TWO
THEBAN QUEENS
COLIN CAMPBELL
s>
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2016
https://archive.org/details/twothebanqueensnOOcamp
TWO THEBAN QUEENS
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI
From drawing by Mr. Howard Carter : the original is the property
of Mr. J. IV. Kingsmill Marrs
Two Theban Queens
NEFERT-ARI AND TY-TI
And their Tombs
BY
COLIN CAMPBELL, M.A., D.D.
MINISTER OF DUNDEE PARISH
AUTHOR OF THE ‘ GARDENER’S TOMB AT THEBES,’ ‘ CRITICAL STUDIES IN
ST. LUKE’S GOSPEL,’ ETC., TRANSLATOR OF PROF. E. NAVILLE’S
‘THE OLD EGYPTIAN FAITH’
WITH ILLUSTRA TIONS
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD.
DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, W.
1909
-
♦
* I
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*
TO
P. A. C.
HER BOOK
NOTE
The Tombs of Queens Nefert-ari and Ty-ti
were amongst those which I carefully copied
in the winter seasons of 1905-6 and 1906-7,
when engaged on The Gardeners Tomb
(Sen-nofer’s) at Thebes, which was pub-
lished in the spring of 1908. They were
again carefully examined last winter and
compared with my notes, and the result
is embodied in the following pages. For
some points in the description of Queen
Ty-ti’s Tomb l acknowledge my indebted-
ness to an official Cairo publication ; but
I could not follow its author in his fanciful
interpretations of some of the scenes. Of
Queen Nefert-ari’s Tomb no account, so
far as known to me, has yet been given.
I can hardly hope that 1 have avoided all
vii
viii NOTE
errors, either in the translation of the in-
scriptions or in the interpretation of the
pictures on the walls.
I have been greatly indebted to various
editions of the Book of the Dead , but above
all to Professor Naville’s.
The frontispiece I owe to the kindness
of Mr. Howard Carter, whose original
drawing of Queen Nefert-ari is now the
property of Mr. J. W. Kingsmill Marrs.
The other illustrations are from photo-
graphs and sketches of my own.
C. C.
Edinburgh,
September 1909.
CONTENTS
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB „
QUEEN TY-TFS TOMB ,
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI . . . Frontispiece
PAGE
DAD WITH ARMS : THE QUEEN LED BY ISIS TO
KHEPERA 33
HORUS-SON-OF-ISIS AND QUEEN NEFERT-ARI . 36
THE QUEEN OFFERING TO OSIRIS KHENTI
AMENTET 43
THE SEVEN SACRED COWS, THE BULL, AND
THE FOUR STEERING OARS OF THE SKY . 46
THE GODDESS MAAT ; AND A GUARDIAN OF THE
CHAMBER ....... 99
t
>
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
A
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
The tomb known to Baedeker ( Egypt , 1908,
p. 316) as that of ‘ Nefret-ere-Mi-en-Mut,
wife of Rameses n.,’ in the Valley of the
Tombs of the Queens, reached either from
the Temple of Medinet Habu, westwards,
in less than half an hour, or from Deir el
Medineh, southwards over the shoulder of
the hill, in fifteen or twenty minutes, was
opened up in 1904 by the Italian Archaeo-
logical Mission. It is much the finest and
most interesting of the rock-hewn tombs in
this valley, and consists of a chamber (No. 1
in Baedekers plan), with a smaller room
opening off it to the right, No. 2, then a flight
of wooden steps (No. 3) descends to a much
larger chamber (No. 4), whose roof is sup-
ported by four square pillars. To right
and left of No. 4 are two tiny rooms, Nos. 6
and 7, while at the extreme end is the inner-
4 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
most sanctuary, No. 5, where the supreme
act or culmination of the process of com-
plete identification of the deceased with
Osiris was accomplished. For the ex-
ploration of the tomb no lights are required
as far as the bottom of the wooden stair-
case ; but for the remainder a good light
is necessary, and care must be shown in
moving about, as there are a few steps in
the rock leading down to the floor of
Chamber 4, as well as into the small side-
rooms. Round two sides of Chamber 1
there is a raised bench, on which were pro-
bably laid the gifts for the sustenance of the
Ka of the deceased. A similar bench occurs
in Chamber 4. If the lady was buried
in the tomb, the mummy shaft probably
led downwards from the small room, No. 7,
on the left side of the large nether chamber.
Such is the arrangement of the tomb.
As to the work. It has been described
as ‘poor and coarse,' but an examination
will probably recommend it as singularly
effective, the portraits of the queen, both
on the walls and the pillars, being very
THE SCENES OF THE TOMB
5
striking. The painting is executed in low
relief on a couple of inches of plaster, and,
for the most part, is as fresh and perfect as
when it left the artist’s hands some thirty-
two centuries ago. In some places, un-
fortunately — notably in Chamber i and
towards the rear of Chamber 4 — much
damage has been caused, it is alleged, by
infiltration of water, but also, it is to be
feared, by the carelessness or worse of
ancient visitors, by some of whom the tomb
had evidently been plundered, as nothing
was found in it by the excavators.
The scenes depicted in this tomb, as well
as in Queen Ty-ti’s, strikingly illustrate a
characteristic of royal tombs, as distin-
guished from those of humbler persons,
which Professor Edouard Naville points out
in his illuminative Lectures on the Religion
of the Ancient Egyptians. The difference
is that the royal tombs deal entirely with
the next world, as the priests imagined it,
and never with terrestrial life, either actual
or ideal. ‘Nothing,’ he says, ‘recalls the
present life, or even the past, of the
6 QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
sovereign : there is no allusion to a manner
of life similar to what he led on earth ; only
religious texts, extraordinary in their mysti-
cism, and often impossible to understand,
introducing us into the midst of a crowd
of gods, goddesses, beneficent spirits and
hostile demons, of serpents and monsters,
with which the Egyptian imagination
peopled the region beyond the tomb.’
This description applies perfectly to the
tombs in question. Here we have no
hint of the queens daily life on earth,
either as it had been, or as her friends
might have wished to represent it, idealised
and beautified, but still terrestrial and
human in its nature. There is no glimpse
here of how the queen spent her days, with
her husband, her children, or her ladies ;
nothing of her joys or sorrows ; nothing of
her amusements, in palace or garden or
on the river — unless it be the draught-
playing scene just inside the first door on
the left on entering — nothing of her duties
as a princess in her own right, or as wedded
queen, ‘great royal wife.’ She is here
THE SCENES OF THE TOMB
7
transported to a world beyond human ken,
with no human being near, except the
image of a perfunctory priest, no husband
beside her, or even his name — the wonder-
ful symbol and guarantee of life — to keep
her company, with the august deities and
dread monsters of the life to come, as she
rises into a divinity at least equal to that
of the best of them. All that she has to
remind her of the world she has left — ‘ the
day from which she has come forth ’ — is the
human speech depicted on the walls around
her; but these words are more than the
bodily presence of men, for by their magic
she can gain the mastery over the powers of
the world to come ; by pronouncing them
she can open every mysterious door or
‘ mansion ’ of the house of Osiris ; and they
will enable her to brave every terror, until
she achieves unity with Osiris, the Lord of
the Unseen World. As an old papyrus
has it : ‘ Even as Osiris lives, he (the
dead) will live also ; even as Osiris is not
dead, he also will not die ; even as Osiris is
not destroyed, he also will not be destroyed.’
8 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
Before entering on the description of the
scenes in the tomb, let us note its other
omissions. First, the god Amen is not,
with one possible exception, mentioned in
all the inscriptions. In one way this is
remarkable, as in the xixth Dynasty, to
which period the tomb undoubtedly belongs,
the worship and the influence of Amen had
almost reached their zenith. But it must be
remembered that in the passages from the
Book of the Dead , or as Professor Naville
prefers to call it, ‘ the book of coming out of
the day,’ which are cited in the tomb, the
name of the god Amen, though predominant
in Thebes, had not yet been inserted, as it was
later, in some chapters. With possibly one
exception, which will be noticed later, the
doctrine of Amen might as well have been
non-existent, so far at least as the next world
is concerned. Next, there is no sacred
formula or petition, no suten-da-hotep, to any
god to provide funeral meals or offerings for
the Ka of the deceased, as is customary in
tombs, nor indeed is the queen’s Ka ever
mentioned. Lastly, though undoubtedly
THE SCENES OF THE TOMB
9
Osiris, as the sovereign of Amentet, or
the Hidden World, to which the dead go,
plays a large part in the scenes represented,
the significant scene of the Judgment, or the
weighing of the Heart, found in so many
tombs, both royal and private, is absent, as,
indeed, is every moral element which might
be considered in determining the destiny of
the deceased. It can hardly have been
present in the destroyed portions of the
tomb, for these can be otherwise accounted
for. In the outer rooms of the tomb, which
perhaps represent the vestibule, so to speak,
of the next life, consisting of introductions
and offerings to various deities, we should
not properly expect to find moral considera-
tions given effect to ; but in the inner and
larger hall, where final union with Osiris is
the goal, we might fairly look for a judgment
scene to occur. But the designer of the
tomb did not select that scene for represen-
tation. What we find are pictures of the
Arits (doors or gates) which lead to the
various Sebkhets (cells or mansions) of the
House of Osiris, guarded by monsters with
10 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
knives ; and through these doors and
mansions the queen can pass into bliss
and union with Osiris simply by reciting the
‘ words of power ’ inscribed beside her. The
mere recital of the words, or even their exist-
ence on the walls , is sufficient in itself to
accomplish the grand purpose in view. No
kind of moral test or requirement is here
needed ; it is an absolute system of magic
— of belief reduced to absurdity — a know-
ledge of names of monsters and all sorts of
objects, even to the bolts of a door, and how
to pronounce them with authority, and have
power over the beings they represent. It is
this same power which is implied in exorcism
of all kinds, ancient and modern, sacred and
profane.
Nor do we find here any confession, nega-
tive or otherwise, of evils or wrongs done by
the deceased such as we have in well-known
chapters of the Book of the Dead \ which
exhibit a moral code of a very high order.
Still less do we find such noble assertions
of virtue as these : ‘ Behold, I come to you,
without sin, without evil. ... I live by truth
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S LIFE n
and feed myself with the truth of my heart.
. . . I have given bread to the hungry, water
to the thirsty, clothing to the naked
(compare St. Matthew xxv. 35, 45), a
passage in my boat to those who could not
cross. I was a father to the orphan, a
husband to the widow, a protection (shelter)
from the storm to the shivering,’ etc.
(compare Job xxix. 12-16). To be sure,
there is in the first recitation put in the
mouth of the queen the following : ‘ Done
away are my defects, abolished are my
deficiencies,’ yet the explanation that follows,
given in these words, ‘ It is the cutting off
of part of the body of the deceased (Osiris)
Nefert-ari,’ seems rather to point to some
burial or mummifying ceremonial, like the
allusion to dipping in the lakes of natron
and salt which we find immediately after,
rather than to any moral purification.
Who was the queen for whom this
splendid tomb was excavated and decor-
ated? There is little or no doubt that it
was for Nefert-ari, the first and favourite
wife of Rameses 11., the long-lived vain-
12 QUEEN NEFERT-ARrS TOMB
glorious monarch of the xixth Dynasty,
during whose protracted reign Egyptian
decadence most probably began (1300-
1234 b.c.). Her husband’s name, as
already stated, does not appear in the
tomb ; while her own is everywhere given
as Nefert-ari Mer-en-Mut. The meaning
of the first part of the name is doubtful,
but it contains the sign for ‘beauty’ or
‘ beautiful ’ ; the last part signifies ‘ beloved
of Mut ’ (the goddess). The form of the
name is substantially the same that appears
on her husband’s statues, where she is also
sculptured, at the temples of Abu-Simbel,
Luqsor, and elsewhere, as well as on the
superb black granite statue in the Turin
Museum. She must, however, be carefully
distinguished from Aahmes Nefert-ari, the
first queen of the xvmth Dynasty, who
flourished nearly three hundred years before
our queen. It is not known for certain
who she was ; probably she was a daughter
of Sety 1., father of Rameses 11., and there-
fore the latter’s sister or half-sister, as an
inscription at Abu-Simbel seems to show,
QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS LIFE 13
where she is described (Maspero, Histoire
Ancienne , 11.) along with Ast-nefert as a
hereditary ‘ Princess of South and North.’
In this tomb she is styled ‘ Great Royal
Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Mistress of
South and North, Royal Palm Branch’ (a
term of endearment). Whether sister or
not, she was already married to Rameses
in the first year of his reign, as we learn
from the tomb of the High Priest of Amen,
Nebunnef, at Thebes (Lepsius, Denkmaler
Texts, 11. 239), who celebrated the great
festival of the god in that year. About the
same time Rameses married another queen,
Ast-nefert, one of whose sons, Mer-en-ptah,
eventually succeeded his father after a too
long reign of sixty-five years. Ast-nefert
was also the mother of his favourite daughter
Banutantha, who, along with his mother
Tuaa and Nefert-ari, share places of honour
beside him on his colossal and other statues.
His favourite son Kha-em-uas, intended to
be his heir, was also born of Ast-nefert, but
died before his father. It is known that
Nefert-ari also had two sons, but they dis-
14 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
appear from history before their fathers
death, who indeed survived long enough to
outlive most of his children. Whether
Nefert-ari survived her sons or died early
in life we have no certain knowledge ; we
know, however, that her name or effigy
does not occur on any of her husbands
constructions in later years, and we can
only infer her death from this silence, as
this tomb testifies to his continued affection
for her. For during her life her influence
must have been great. None of the
Egyptian queens, so far as we know, had
been held in such honour, for none had a
temple dedicated to her jointly with a
goddess, as was the case with Nefert-ari
at Abu-Simbel, where she shares the
honours with Hathor in the smaller temple.
Within, too, the king is seen offering in-
cense and pouring a libation to her and
himself ; and after death she was worshipped
as a divine Osiris. And in the great Abu-
Simbel Temple her statues figure promi-
nently beside the four seated colossi of her
husband, which front the dawn. Thus, the
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S LIFE 15
outstanding fact remains that, although Ast-
nefert was the mother of his destined heir
and of his favourite daughter, and although
the Princess of Kheta and numerous other
wives were the mothers of at least one
hundred and forty other children, Nefert-ari
reigned supreme in his affections, ‘ the great
princess of every grace in his heart, the
palm-branch of love, the beloved of the
king, and united with the ruler ’ ; and at
last, in this awe-inspiring valley, beneath
its majestic cliffs, he had this sumptuous
‘House of Eternity’ prepared for her,
wherein to abide for ever.
The Tomb
We shall adopt the numbers of the
Chambers as given in Baedeker’s plan
(p. 316: 6th Ed.), and begin with No. 1.
We take the left-hand side of the entrance
and go on till we come to the door at the
wooden staircase ; then returning to the
main entrance we shall examine the right
side of the room up to the same point.
Next we shall take the small side-chamber,
1 6 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
in the same order, left side first, right side
last, which we believe to be the proper
order in examining tombs.
Room No. i
The long inscription above the bench,
much destroyed in places, is a rather garbled
version of chapter xvn. of the Book of the
Dead , which Professor Naville gives sub-
stantial reasons for calling ‘ the coming out
of the Day,’ the day here named being, in
his opinion, a man’s life which is limited by
time, also by the fact of man not being able
to change his appearance; his day has a
morning and an evening ; and ‘ coming out
of the day ’ is to be delivered from all those
limits, and to be able to assume all forms
one likes (Naville’s Funeral Papyrus of
louiya). The pictures along the frieze are
partly explained by the inscription which
begins at the left jamb of the entrance, and
ends at the door of the wooden stair. Un-
fortunately it is badly destroyed, but judging
from what is intact, the original could not
have been a valuable copy of the part of
ROOM 1
17
chapter xvn, chosen for inscription. It
is one of the oldest and most important
chapters in the whole collection, and repre-
sents, in its kernel, the old Heliopolitan
theology. Consequently it was the first
chapter, if not the only one, according to
Egyptologists, to receive glosses and com-
mentaries, as the original meaning became
lost, or was wilfully perverted. These
glosses and commentaries are introduced
by the words, ‘ Explain that,’ or ‘ What is
that ? ’ or simply ‘ Otherwise.' 1 In some of
the texts these additions appear in red ink.
The text given in the tomb, so far as it is
complete, is nearest to that of the Papyrus
of Ani ; it has also affinities with that of
Iouiya. The beginning of the chapter is
broken away at the door-jamb. In the
following version the parts unrepresented
on the wall are enclosed in square brackets ;
the commentaries are in italics : and N. is
the queens name.
1 The Egyptian commentators anticipated by several
thousands of years the philological mythology of the late
Prof. Max Muller and others.
B
18 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
‘ [Beginning of the praisings and
glorifyings] of going out from, and
going into, the radiant Amentet (under-
world) the beautiful, of coming forth from
the day to perform the changes in all the
forms which he (the deceased) pleases
to take, of draught-playing, sitting in
the pavilion, and of going forth as a
living soul. Saith the Osiris the great
royal wife, Lady of the Two Lands,
Nefert-ari, triumphant after he (she)
hath reached his (her) haven : glorified
is that which is done upon the earth ;
then come to pass the words of Toum.
Toum the god am I, as the closer,1 as
the opener. I am but One ; I am in
Nu, the primeval water, I am Ra at his
first appearing, when he became ruler
of what he had made. What then is
that ? It is Ra at the beginning when
he ruled . . . when he rose in the city
of Suten-henen (Heracleopolis Magna)
1 Renouf quotes Rev. i. 8 : ‘I am the Alpha and the
Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty,’ but see also iii. 7.
ROOM 1
19
as a king . . . when as yet the pillars
of Shu (the god who separated sky
from earth and supported the former)
were not. It was he that was on the
stairs (high ground) of Khemennu (the
city of the Eight Gods, Hermopolis) ;
behold he destroyed \_the children :] of
failure , the great god . . . [who is self-
created~\ even Nu , the primeval water,
the same . . . [the father\ of the gods ;
otherwise said , Ra it is . . . [ who cause th~]
his names to be the company of the gods}
What then is that? Ra it is who
createth [his own members] . . . then
arose [the gods] who are in the train
of Ra. I am he whom none of the
gods may resist. What then is that ?
It is Toum who is in his disc , other-
wise, Ra in his rising , on the horizon of
the east of the sky. I am Y esterday, I
know To-morrow.2 What then is that ?
1 Renouf aptly quotes the saying, ‘Nomina Numena,5
names are gods, of the Schoolmen. The names of Ra are
said, when taken together, to compose ‘the cycle of the
gods.’
2 Yesterday and To-morrow are the two lion-gods in the
frieze : Yesterday faces the right.
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
Yesterday is Osiris , Now ( To-morrow )
is Ra , that day of the destruction of
the enemies of Neb-er-tcher (the in-
violate god, Osiris, Lord of All), when
he at the same time made his son Horns
king : otherwise said , the day when is
fixed the festival of doing homage at the
burial of Osiris by his father Ra. Then
Ra, he made strife among the gods,
when he gave command . . . [for
Osiris to be lord] of the mountain of
the West. What then is that? Amentet
(the West) belongs to the spirits of the
gods when he gave command to the gods
for Osiris to be lord of the mountain of
the West . Otherwise said \ Amentet is
the place ( things ) which Ra hath given
to every god to reach ( i.e . the West is
the limit). He , Ra , ariseth andfighteth ,
because of it does the Osiris, the great
royal wife N. I know that god that
is within there. What then is that ?
It is Osiris : Praises of Ra is his name :
Spirit of Ra is his name ; he begat him-
self\ the Osiris, etc. I am the Bennu-
ROOM 1
21
bird,1 which is in [An, or Heliopolis]
... I am the keeper of the account of
things that are and that come into
being. What then is that ? His body ;
otherwise said , to all eternity and ever-
lastingness ; that which belongs to
eternity is the day, everlastingness is
the night: the Osiris , etc., N. I am
[Min] . . . [may] his two feathers [be
upon my head] . . . his father. That
which belongs to his coming forth is his
birth . . . his two feathers on his head:
the coming forth of Isis and Nephthys
. . . they stand zipon his head : the two
ursei, the very great [which are on]
the forehead of his father Toum : other-
wise said, his . . . are the two feathers
on his head. It is the Osiris, etc., N.
. . . upon his (her) place (land), he
(she) has come from his (her) city.
What does that mean ? From the twin-
horizon of his (her) father Toum.
Done away are his (her) defects,
1 The common heron : it is associated with the Sun-god
because the word ben means to go round, revolve. — Renouf.
22 QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
abolished are his (her) deficiencies.
What then is that ? It is the cutting
off of part of the body of the Osiris , etc.
N. \before all the gods ] . . . all that
belongs to her (guardian ?). What
then is that? It is the purification
on the day of his [her] birth, in the
great and mighty double-nest (the
two lakes in the frieze) which is in
Suten-henen on the day of the offerings
[made by] the followers (lit. intelligent
beings) of the great god who is there.
What then is that ? [Millions of
years] is the name of the one ; Great
Green Lake is the name of the other,
a pool of natron and a pool of Maat
(nitre or salt, used in embalming. —
Renouf). T raverser of Millions of years
is the name of one, Great Green Lake
is the name of the other. Otherwise
said , Begetter of Millions of years is the
name of one, [Great] Green Lake is the
name of the other. Now regarding the
god . . . who is there, it is [Ra himself].
I traverse ... I know ... it is the
ROOM 1
23
underworld . . . where nothing grows,
the northern gate [of the tomb?]. Now,
concerning the pool of Maati (Two
Truths) it is Abydos, otherwise said ,
the road on which his father Toiim
travelleth when he goeth to the field of
Aaru (The fields of the Blessed). I
come, I the Osiris, great royal wife,
divine wife, N. triumphant, to the place
of the double . . . the gate of the Sacred
Land. What then is that ? It is the
Field of Aaru that brings forth the food
of the gods, behind the shrine . The gate
Tchesert (the underworld) is the gate
of the pillars of Shu. Now concerning
the Duat (underworld), What then is
that? It is the Osiris, the great royal
wife, lady of the Two Lands, N. tri-
umphant. Now , concerning the Duat , it
is the gate of Tchesert .’
Here the inscription ends at the door, and
it must be confessed rather lamely. Another
sentence, and the artist could have put into
the mouth of the queen a pathetic petition
that would have been the climax of her
24 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
desire. Throughout the speech she pre-
sumes her identification with every god she
names : what happened to them, happens to
her, what they did she did, etc. ; and now,
standing within the threshold of the next
world, having had all defects and impurities
cleansed in the pools of the ‘ double-nest/
she might have touchingly cried, ‘ O ye who
are in the presence (or who have gone
before), let me grasp your hands, me who
have become one of you.’ — Renouf.
This inscription, even had it been entire,
forms but a small, yet perhaps the oldest,
portion of chapter xvn. It was meant to be
an acknowledgment on the part of the
deceased of his belief in his identity with
Toum and all the ancient deities, and their
whole history. What they had been, and
were then, the deceased appropriated to
himself, so as to become as divine as they :
— a singular anticipation of the doctrine of
transferred merit. From its statement here
we can understand some of the pictures on
the frieze. The queen has come forth from
the day of her earthly life, and reached, or is
ROOM 1
25
about to reach, her destined rest ; she is now
prepared, having perhaps recited on earth
the words 4 of the praisings and glorifyings
of going into the Unseen Land,’ to undergo
all the transformations that the god Toum
underwent, to play at draughts in her hall,
and to come forth as a living soul. The
draughts-playing is given as the first picture.
The ancient Egyptians loved the game ; so
much so that it was deemed worthy of being
transferred as a celestial recreation to the
next world. In the pavilion at Medinet
Habou Rameses 111. is seen playing at
draughts with one of his ladies. Here the
queen sits in her hall at her other-world
pleasure. Dr. Nash, in an exhaustive
article on draughts-playing in the Proceed-
ings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology,
quotes the late Dr. Birch : 4 Did the deceased,
or his shade, play for his soul against any
god or accuser ? or did the spirits of the
departed play against one another, or alone?’
also Prof. Wiedemann, referring to a stele in
Vienna, 4 His soul is in his grave, she plays
draughts with him/ and Dr. Nash pertinently
2 6 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
asks, 4 Who shall say what esoteric meaning
the Egyptian priests may have attached to
the game of draughts ? ’ (vol. xxiv. p. 348).
The queen’s name and titles are : 4 The
Osiris, the royal wife, lady of the Two
Lands, N. before the great god,’ and she
‘ comes forth as a living soul,’ in the shape
of a bird with a woman’s head, standing on
the top of the tomb. The queen herself,
crowned with vulture diadem, kneels in front
of her soul, with hands uplifted in adoration
of the two lions before her. Her name and
titles again appear, as essential to her
existence. The two lions, back to back,
are ‘ Yesterday ’ (to right) and ‘ To-morrow ’
(to left) — the past and the future — as ex-
plained in the inscription ; between them is
the symbol of the extended sky, with the sun’s
disc resting between the horizons of East and
West. When the queen says, ‘ I am Yester-
day and I know To-morrow,’ she probably
means that, being now divine, all time is
known and open before her. The bright-
blue bennu bird is so named, and stands
facing the bier on which Osiris lies : the
ROOM 1
27
etymology connects it with the sun ‘ that
turns back or round ’ day by day, and hence
the bird became a symbol of resurrection,
the phoenix of man, returning to life again
like the sun. This ancient Egyptian belief
persisted even into Christian times. The
bird stands here by the bier of the dead
Osiris (or the queen) in token of returning
to life again : the body is watched over by
Nephthys at the head, and Isis at the foot,
the latter occupying the more honourable
position as she looks towards the face of
Osiris. Both are in the form of hawks, the
sacred bird of the tribe. The queen, in the
text, represents herself as having gone
through the same changes as Osiris. F urther
on, we have the god called ‘ Millions of
Years,’ holding a notched palm-branch, the
hieroglyph of his name, in one hand, while
his left stretches towards one of the lakes
named in the text. Beneath this lake is the
‘eye,’ not mentioned in the text, and it
occurs again, placed on a tomb or pylon,
where it is adored by a god. The ‘ Eye of
Horus’ stands for any gift bestowed by
28 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
deity, ‘ the prototype of all gifts.' The
figure between the pools is probably the god
called ‘Great Green Lake,' and the pools
over which he stretches his hands are the
pools of natron and salt. In this ‘double-
nest,' as they are called, the queen says she
has been purified ; and considering the
substances contained in the pools they
probably refer to the process of mummifica-
tion and protection of the body from decay,
rather than to moral cleansing. This seems
also apparent from their position between
the bier and the tomb here figured, but not
named, as in the papyrus of Ani, Re-stau,
‘gate or entrance of the funeral passages.'
At the corner we have the great cow, Meh-
urt, called in the papyrus of Ani, ‘ the eye of
Horus,’ with a menat suspended from her
neck, and a flail or scourge, as a symbol of
authority, behind her, crouching on a pylon.
Upon her thighs, according to a later passage
in chapter xvil, not given here, the night
Sun-god is born in the West in the evening.
She is therefore another type of the new life
for the deceased. Further to the right we
ROOM 1 29
have another bier or funeral chest in which
is a crouching jackal, the animal sacred to
Anubis, the guardian of the tomb. Beside
the bier are the four genii of the dead, or
the children of Horus, all man-headed, who
guard the internal organs of the body, heart,
liver, etc. They are followed by the seven
Khus , spirits or shining Ones, figures of
deities mentioned later in chapter xvn.
(Papyrus of Ani), who were appointed
originally by Anubis to watch over and
protect the dead body of Osiris. The first
three are not named here, but in that
papyrus they are called Maa-atef-f, Kheri-
beq-f, and Horu-Khenti-maati ; and the re-
maining four, who also represent the four
cardinal points, with their proper heads, are
Qebh-sennuf (jackal -headed), Dua-mutf
(hawk-headed), Hapi (dog-headed), and
Mesta or Amset (man-headed). They, the
four children of Horus, are often represented
as standing before Osiris, the Judge and
supreme god of the next world, as indeed
they are represented in this tomb. They
seem to suggest a comparison with the ‘ four
30 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
living creatures ’ of the Book of the Revela-
tion. The whole frieze thus reproduces the
burial ritual, preservation and resurrection
of the body of Osiris, all which the queen
accepts and adopts as her own.
Along the edge of the bench or table, be-
ginning at the inner door, is the following
legend: ‘ Saith Osiris Khenti Un-nefer,
Lord of the Sacred Land, Great God, Royal
Sovereign ruler of all living beings of
Aukert (a name for the next world) Ruler
of . . . beloved daughter of Ra (?), the Lady
of the Two Lands, great Royal Wife Nefert-
ari Mer-en-Mut, endowed with life — I have
given to thee a habitation within Aukert ;
and thou shinest in the heavens like Ra, and
art united to an abode in the heart of the
Sacred Land ; glad of heart is she in the
abode of the goddess Maat (goddess of Truth
or Right), who is in the great Company of
the Gods, (is) the great Royal Wife, etc., N.’
The fronts of the supporting pillars of the
bench also show the titles and cartouche of
the queen ; the name is repeated over and
over again, not merely as a decoration but
ROOM 1
3i
as standing for the actual life and person-
ality of the queen, as representing in fact
her immortal ego. The preservation of the
name was inculcated from the earliest ages
down to the last days of the Egyptian re-
ligion : in a passage from the text of Pepy 1.
we read, ‘ Thy name shall live upon earth ;
thy name shall endure upon earth ; never
shalt thou perish ; thou shalt not be de-
stroyed for ever and ever.’ The same idea
occurs in many passages of the Scriptures ;
and to efface or blot out a name was equi-
valent to destroying the personality.
We now return to the doorway. Here
we have the queen presenting herself in
adoration before the two principal gods of
the next world, Osiris enthroned within a
shrine, and Anubis behind him. In front
of Osiris, on a kind of stand, are the four
children of Horus, this time each with a
human head. The titles and name of the
queen, with which we are now familiar, again
occur, but the words ‘before the great god,’
meaning Osiris, are added. Only after
death might a king be styled ‘ great god ’ :
32 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
during his life he was simply ‘good god.’
Osiris is here described as ‘ the first of those
that are in the West ( i.e . the departed), Un-
nefer, Lord of the Sacred Land, Great God,
King of Aukert, dwelling in Abydos/
Behind him are the magical signs of ‘ pro-
tection, life, stability, power, health, glad-
ness of heart/ Anubis is characterised in
the usual way ‘ Anpu (or Anup, Anubis)
Governor of the Divine abode, he who is
in Ut (or place of embalming), Lord of
Re-stau, he who is upon his hill or rock,
Lord of the Sacred Land/
We now pass over to the left jamb
of the Vestibule that leads into the
small chamber No. 2. The goddess Serk
(Selk or Serket), with a scorpion emblem
on her head, stands to welcome the queen
on her progress in her knowledge of the
gods. Her speech is : ‘ Saith Serket, lady
of the sky, mistress of all the gods, I come
having with me the great royal wife, etc.,
mistress of South and North, N. triumphant
before Osiris, sovereign lord of Abdu
(Abydos). I have given (her) a dwelling
Photo ly A uthor
KHEPERA
THE QUEEN LEU BY ISIS
DAD
WITH
ARMS
ROOM 2 33
in the sacred land : she shines in the sky-
like Ra.’ Behind the goddess are the
usual magical amulet signs of ‘protection,
etc., around her, like Ra.’ Going round the
corner we find a large Dad, the symbol of
the backbone of Osiris, with arms, holding
crook and scourges, and crowned with
horned feathers. Here, as on the opposite
side of the vestibule, it is partly decorative
and partly emblematic of the reconstruction
of life in Osiris and therefore for all
believers. The queen is now conducted
by the goddess Isis, who takes her by the
hand and presents her to the god Khepera,
who with scarabaeus head sits enthroned
facing them. We need not repeat the
legend round the queen’s head ; here as
elsewhere she is described as triumphant
(see my Sen-no fer's Tomb , p. 7). Isis is
crowned with horns and sun-disc, as well
as with the royal uraeus, and holds, like all
deities, the symbol of power. She says,
‘ Lo, she comes, the great, etc., N., to an
abode in the Sacred Land.’ Khepera, the
god with the scarabaeus head, is so depicted
c
34 QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
as representing perhaps the earliest mani-
festation of the Sun-god, as coming into
visible life (Kheper, a beetle, means to
become , come into being) in the new-born or
rising sun. He says to the queen, ‘ I give
thee the everlastingness of Ra, I give thee
the risings of Ra in the sky, I give thee an
abode in the Sacred Land, I, Khepera, the
god who is in his boat, the great god.’
The name Khepera, ‘ the god who is in his
boat,’ appears exactly in this form in chapter
cxxxiv., Book of the Dead , and seems here
to refer to the promise given to the queen
that she will for ever accompany the Sun-
god in his boat when he rises every new
day to cross the sky. This is, of course,
a promise of eternal life. In the Papyrus
of Nu, chapter cliv., Book of the Dead , ‘the
divine father Khepera is the divine type of
him that never saw corruption ... I am
(the deceased says) the god Khepera, and
my members shall have an everlasting
existence. I shall not decay, I shall not
rot, I shall not putrify, I shall not turn into
worms, and I shall not see corruption before
ROOM 2
35
the eye of the god Shu. I shall have my
being : I shall live : I shall germinate : I
shall wake up in peace . . . my body shall
be established, and it shall neither fall into
ruin, nor be destroyed on this earth.’ — (Dr.
Budge s Translation , p. 520.)
The counterpart of the two foregoing
pictures is on the opposite side of the vesti-
bule. The goddess Neith, like the goddess
Serket, conducts the queen into further
knowledge. Neith is closely associated in
the oldest mythology with Osiris and Horus,
and, after the period of this tomb, was
worshipped mainly at Sais in the Delta.
The emblem on her head here is supposed
to be a weaver’s shuttle (it is often an oblong
shield with two arrows crossed), and from
that emblem, as well as from her other head-
dress, the crown of Lower Egypt, not here
shown, her origin has been deduced from
the Libyans, a people dwelling on the
western border of Egypt. (See, for an in-
structive discussion on this point, P. A.
Newberry in S. B. Archeology , vol. xxvm.
pp. 69, 70.) She was thus at once a war-
36 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
goddess, identified by the Greeks with
Athene, and an industrial goddess, 'the
inventress of the art of weaving, the weaver
who made the world of warp and woof.’
She is mentioned several times in the Book
of the Dead \ and the part of the human
body associated with her is the fore-arm —
very suitable for a goddess of war. Here
she says : ‘I, Neith, the great divine mother,
lady of the sky, mistress of all the gods, I
come (bringing) with me the daughter be-
loved, the Osiris, great royal, etc., N. tri-
umphant before Osiris, the great god, Lord
of the Sacred Land, I have given to her an
abode within Aukert. She shall rise like
Ra.’ The usual amulet signs for protection,
etc., are behind the goddess.
As on the other side, the Dad emblem
again appears. Then Horus-son-of-Isis
(Heru - si -ast, Greek Harsiesis), with a
falcon's head, and wearing the double
crown of Egypt, takes the queen by the
hand, as his mother on the opposite side
has done, and presents her to Horus-of-the-
two- horizons (Heru-akhte, Greek Har-
Photo by Author
HORUS-SON-OF-ISIS.
QUEEN NEFERT-ARI,
I
ROOM 2
37
machis) and to Hat-hor (Het-Heru, abode
of Horus), both enthroned. This latter
Horus is a form of Ra, with a falcon’s
head, crowned by the sun-disc with a
urseus. He promises to the queen ‘an
abode with those that are in the Sacred
Land, a duration of life like Ra’s, an eternity
in life, stability, and power.’ Hathor wears
on her head the falcon emblem or totem
standing for the west, and she is simply
styled Het-Heru (Hat-hor), protectress or
president of Thebes, mistress of all the gods.
The decorative vulture on the lintel, with
outspread wings, is worthy of notice. She
represents the goddess ‘ Nekhebt, the
goddess of the South,’ the tutelary deity
of the ancient city at El Kab, Nekheb,
identified by the Greeks as the city of
Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. Simi-
larly we have, as we shall see further on,
the goddess Uazit, a winged cobra, with
the crown of Lower Egypt, as the goddess
of the North, called Buto by the Greeks.
On the door-posts as we enter Room
No. 2, are figures of Maat, the goddess of
38 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
Truth, Law or Right, the hieroglyph for
which is an ostrich feather, worn on her
head. Forms of Maat, like the Forty-two
who preside at the judgment before Osiris,
as well as Maat herself or her symbol, are
constantly met with on tombs and monu-
ments. Her priests were held in high
esteem, and many monarchs, notably Amen-
hotep hi. (Lord of the Truth of Ra), and his
reforming son Khu-en-aten, not to mention
Hatshepsut (Ka-Maat-Ra), embodied the
word in their names and professed to live
in and by her. The inscription, which is the
same, with unimportant variations, on both
sides reads : ‘ Saith Maat, daughter of Ra,
I come bringing with me the beloved
daughter, the Osiris, etc., N. triumphant
before Osiris, the great god, etc., I have
given thee an abode within Aukert.’
Proceeding to the left side we see N.
before the god Ptah standing in his shrine,
and swathed like a mummy, his usual form.
The queen is offering linen tissues or wrap-
pings, as the short inscription in front of
her informs us, ‘The giving of Cloths to
ROOM 2
39
the Lord of Truth in the Sacred Land/
The hieroglyphs for cloths or bandages
are on the altar table. The inscription
above the queen gives her a new title :
‘ The great, etc., ruler of all lands , N., etc/
No matter before what god she appears she
is described as ‘triumphant before Osiris/
Ptah stands in a shrine or chapel, in mummy
form, with the two hands in front grasping
a sceptre with the symbols of power, life,
and stability. He stands on another
symbol expressing truth or law. The
inscription describes him as ‘ Ptah, Lord
of Truth, King of the two Lands, beautiful
of countenance, Lord of his great abode/
Ptah is one of the oldest gods, and was
never merged in the Sun-god : on the con-
trary he is often called ‘ Father of the
mighty fathers (the gods), father of the
beginnings, he who created the sun-egg and
the moon-egg/ In another place he is said
to be old and yet always making himself
young. Memphis was the chief seat of his
worship, and here it was said of him that,
like a potter on his wheel, he had turned the
40 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
egg from which the world was hatched.
He was the patron of all artificers and
artisans, especially of blacksmiths. It is
difficult to say what this scene signifies ;
it may refer to chapter xxm. of the Book
of the Dead, where the prayer is made,
* May my mouth be opened by Ptah, and
may the god of my domain loosen my
swathings, even the swathings that are over
my mouth.’
Next, on the left hand wall, we have
an interesting scene presented. It is an
illustration, with an almost complete text
of chapter xciv. of the Book of the Dead ,
called here ‘ The chapter of praying for an
inkstand and palette from Thoth in Neter-
Khert (underworld).’ The text differs
from that of any papyrus known to the
author. In the picture we have the queen
standing before Thoth, who is enthroned,
and on an altar-table between them is a
writing palette, supported by an inkstand,
on which a small figure of an ape, associated
with Thoth, sits gazing towards the god.
The whole stands on the symbol for Truth
ROOM 2
4i
or Right. The scene may also have a re-
ference to chapter clxxv. of the same book,
where, among other things, the deceased
says, ‘ I am thy palette, O Thoth, and I
bring to thee thine inkstand ; I am not one
of those who do mischief in secret : let
not mischief be done unto me. — ( Renouf s
Translation.') Thoth, in the scene before us,
is described as ‘ Lord of the City of the Eight
(that is Khemennu ; the eight are the adoring
apes at sunrise, four on each side of the
Sun -god's boat), great god, chief of the
Sacred Land, righteous judge of the com-
pany of the gods,’ and like the other deities
he also accords ‘ a seat or abode in the
Sacred Land.’ The queen is styled as
before, and then comes the text of eight
vertical columns, beginning on the right :
‘ Chapter of praying for inkstand and palette
from Thoth in Neter-Khert : the Osiris
great royal wife, etc., N. triumphant : Hail,
O great one beholding [thy] father, thou
guardian of the Book of Thoth : Here am
I, I am come, thy glorified one, I am a
soul, with thy strength am I equipped
42 QUEEN ttEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
[and] with the writings of Thoth. I have
brought them [for] going through (?) Aker
(used elsewhere of the dark hold of the
boat that must be traversed), who is with
Suti (darkness). I have brought inkstand,
I have brought palette, things that belong
to Thoth’s own hand, the secrets that are in
them are divine (lit. gods). Here am I,
here am I [as] a scribe. I have brought
the remains (offal) of Osiris, writings (written
upon ?), I have made (copied ?) the words
of the great and beautiful god every day,
in beauty. Thou hast decreed for me, O
Heru-akhte (Harmachis) that I make (do ?)
Truth and lead Truth along.’ There are
several slips in the text.
The wall opposite the door is divided
into two scenes ; the queen before Osiris
on the left half, and before Toum on the
right. It is evident from the relative posi-
tion of the two gods, back to back, with the
magic fan of ‘ protection ’ between them, as
well as from the position of the queen, that
we must approach this middle wall from left
and right from the door. Taking, there-
GUARDIAN OF THE CHAMBER
( Reproduced by perm iss io n of the Trustees of the
British Museum )
THE GODDESS MAAT
ROOM 2
43
fore, the Osiris scene first, we see the queen
making a gigantic and sumptuous offering
of all kinds, including animals’ skins, to
Osiris enthroned, accompanied as before
by the Four children of Horus on a
standard. Between the offerings and the
standard is what has been called the ‘ fetish ’
of Osiris. It is not, however, peculiar to
him ; it goes with Anubis as well. It is an
animal’s skin or body, fixed to a pole, with
blood dripping from the neck into a bowl
beneath. No one knows what it means.
The queen has a sceptre of power and
might in her right hand, and touches the
offerings with her left. She says ‘ she pays
the offering due to her father Osiris, the
great god, straightway [does] his daughter,
the great royal wife, etc., N.? Osiris says :
* I have given [to thee] the risings of Ra
in the sky ; I have given all everlastingness
that is in my power, I have given all eternity
that is in my power, I have given all joy of
heart that is in my power, I, Osiris, the First
of those that are in Amentet, Un-nefer, the
sovereign of all living beings, great god,
44 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
ruler of the Sacred Land, Lord of Eternity,
Ruler for evermore.’
Returning to the door, we see on the
right, first, a ram-headed mummy figure,
supported in front by Isis and behind by
Nephthys. The Osiris figure — for it is he
— is the dead body of the Sun-god, with the
ram-head of Amen, and a red sun-disc above
the horns, representing Ra, as the mummy
figure is indeed here expressly called.
This figure seems to show that Osiris was
identified with Ra, and that the cult of
Amen was being introduced into the Osirian
doctrine. The scene probably refers to
chapter clxxxii., Book of the Dead , called the
‘ Book of vivifying Osiris, of giving air to
him whose heart is motionless, through the
action of Thoth, etc .’—(Navil/e.) The in-
scription in front of the mummy reads, ‘ Ra
rests (or sets) in Osiris,’ and behind we have
the converse, ‘ Osiris sets in Ra,’ a form of
words found in the chapter just quoted. In
any case, the queen will be re-vivified like
this Osiris figure.
Towards the corner and facing the two
THE SACRED KINE
45
rows of cattle stands the queen adoring them.
These seven cows and the bull are the
Sacred Kine, who will provide sustenance for
her in the next life. A table of green food,
apparently, stands before each animal ; and
below are the four steering oars of the sky,
referring to the four cardinal points. Over
all is the sign for the sky, and at either side
stands a long user , the symbol of power.
The picture illustrates chapter cxlviii. of the
Book of the Dead , ‘giving sustenance to
the deceased in the Netherworld, and de-
livering him from evil things.’ Professor
Naville explains that the giving of nourish-
ment to the deceased delivers him from all
evil ; — in fact it is so stated in the rubric to
this chapter in the Papyrus of Nu. Naville
thus translates the beginning of the chapter :
‘ Hail to thee who shinest as living soul, and
who appearest on the horizon, N. who is in
the boat knows thee ; he knows thy name,
he knows the names of the seven cows and
of their bull : they give bread and drink to
the glorified soul. You who give sustenance
to the inhabitants of the West, give bread
4 6 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
and drink to the soul of N., grant that he
may be your follower, and be between your
thighs ( i.e . be suckled by the divine cows,
like Hatshepsu, at Der el Bahari, by
Hathor).’ The cows and the bull have a
name apiece ; they are variously given on
different monuments (eg. in Medinet Habou
Temple) and in different papyri. Here, be-
ginning at right of top row — (i) Red cow,
name, Dwelling of the Kas of Neb-er-tcher
(inviolate god, Osiris) ; (2) Black and yellow
cow, name, Hidden one, dwelling in her
place ; (3) Brown and flecked cow, name,
Divine mummified form of the god ; (4)
White cow, yellow underneath, name, Storm
of the sky, raising the gods ; (5) Grey cow
with dark spots, name, Joined to life (full of
life), with long locks of hair ; (6) Red cow,
name, Greatly beloved, red of hair; (7) White
cow, name, Mighty is her name, on her
pedestal. The Bull, black and yellow, is
named, The bull, the husband of the cows,
of those who dwell in the House of the Red
ones. The Steering Oars are thus de-
scribed, beginning at the right — (1) Beautiful
THE SEVEN SACRED COWS, THE BULL, AND THE FOUR
STEERING OARS OF THE SKY
• /•
THE STEERING OARS
4 7
power, beautiful steering oar of the northern
sky ; (2) Beautiful steering oar of the eastern
sky, pilot that goes round the two lands
(the whole earth) ; (3) Beautiful steering oar
of the southern sky ; (4) Beautiful steering
oar of the western sky.
We now reach the counterpart of the
presentation of offerings to Osiris. The
queen makes a similar offering to Toum,
one of the primeval gods, as the long in-
scription in the outer chamber has told us.
The queen’s address here is the same as
on the other side, with the exception of the
god’s name. Toum, who is always repre-
sented as a man, is attired exactly like a
king of Upper and Lower Egypt, with user
and ankhy while on the side of his throne,
as on the throne of Osiris, we have the sam
sign, or symbol of the union of the Two
Lands. Between Osiris and Toum is the
large magical fan, symbol of ‘ protection,’
which is seen behind the king even in
battle ; and behind both deities are the
other amulet signs as before. Toum also
promises the queen < the rising of Ra in the
48 QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
sky, eternity in life, stability, and power,
everlastingness like Ra, and all joy of heart.’
He is styled ‘ Lord of the Two Lands of
On (Heliopolis), Great God, Lord of the
Sacred Land.’
On emerging from Room 2, and passing
towards the doorway of the wooden stair-
case, we notice a large figure of Osiris on
the right hand facing us. He is a mummy
figure with a green face, as representing
the growth or germination of the new life
of the body as from a seed. He stands on
Truth, and makes the promise of ‘eternity
of life, like his (her) father Ra,’ to the queen.
The figure is robed like the queen’s, and
may thus be meant for her. The mysterious
skin on the pole is here again. His titles
are more numerous now : ‘ Osiris, dwelling
in Amentet, Un-nefer, King of Life, Great
God, ruler of the company of all the Gods
to Eternity, ruler of everlastingness, Over-
lord of the Sacred Land.’
The jambs of the door to the staircase
yield once more an opportunity for the
artist to inscribe the titles and name of the
STAIRCASE
49
queen ; and on the left and right thicknesses
of the door we have the goddesses of South
and North respectively, with their appropriate
crowns, before the cartouches of the queen,
surmounted by plumes. The southern side of
a door or gate is always the more honourable.
Similarly, inside, as in the outer room,
we have on the South the scorpion goddess
Serket, and on the North the shuttle goddess
Neith, welcoming the queen on her journey
in the Duat or Underworld. The speech
of Neith is the better preserved, and reads :
‘ Says Neith, the divine mother, lady of the
sky, president of the Sacred Land, I come
having with me the great royal wife, whom
he (she) loves, the lady of the Two Lands,
N. triumphant before Osiris.7 Serket is not,
of course, styled ‘ divine mother ’ like Neith.
The usual amulet signs are behind both
goddesses.
Staircase
The descent to the Underworld is beauti-
fully decorated. The figures of the queen
and the deities represented are disposed in
D
So QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
the most attractive way, the utmost being
made of the space at the artists disposal.
Across the lintel of the lower entrance is
an enchanting figure of the goddess Maat
kneeling, with outspread wings. We begin,
as usual, with the left-hand wall. Here we
have the queen offering two bowls (of wine,
water, or milk) to Isis, behind whom is
Nephthys, both enthroned. Then further
along on the same level, we have a kneeling
figure of the goddess Maat with her ostrich
feather (Truth) on her head, and wings out-
stretched towards the name of the queen in
protection of her personality. Still further
forward is a winged uraeus performing the
same sacred duty to two names of the queen,
one of which is crowned by the sun-disc,
and rests on the sign for gold. The body
of the serpent waves gracefully along in
smaller undulations into the narrowing space.
Then underneath, beginning about the
kneeling figure of Maat, is another picture
in which the Jackal Anubis, couched on a
tomb, welcomes the queen in a long speech.
Another speech lies below the broad line
STAIRCASE
Si
which extends to the jackal’s fore-paws.
Then behind Anubis is the goddess Isis
again, but this time kneeling on a large gold
sign, with her hands resting on the seal or
ring which is supposed to represent infinity.
The same scheme of ceremonial decora-
tion is followed on the right-hand wall, with
certain differences in the deities represented.
Beginning, then, with the left-hand wall,
the queen offers two bowls to Isis, but no
mention of that goddess is made in the in-
scription above the queen. Osiris is the
goal of her journeyings in the Duat, conse-
quently his titles are reproduced at some
length, and it is noteworthy that for the
first time behind the queen we find here
the amulet signs of ‘protection, life, stability,
all health, and all joy of heart around her
like Ra,’ as if she were now a goddess.
Osiris is again called ‘ Ruler of the Cycle
of all the gods.’ Isis says : ‘ I have given
to the goddess (queen) eternity like Ra,
Isis the great divine mother, lady of the
sky, mistress of all the gods.’ Nephthys is
merely named ‘ lady of the sky, mistress
52 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
of the two lands ’ ; while Maat is called
‘ daughter of Ra, lady of the sky, mistress
of the two lands.’
A little way down the wooden steps is
the beginning of the tableau, in which
Anubis is the principal figure as the
guardian of the inner Tomb. In Sen-
nefer’s Tomb he is similarly placed, but on
the inside lintel of the inner chamber. The
speech is as follows : —
‘ Saith Anpu, he who is in the em-
balming place, great god over-lord ot
the Sacred Land, here comes the great
royal wife, etc., N. triumphant before
Osiris, etc. — she conies to me. I have
given the goddess (the queen) an abode
among those that are in the Sacred Land.
She riseth (shineth) in the sky like [her]
father Ra. Receive thou ornaments
upon thy head ; be thou united to Mother
Isis together with Nephthys. They
create thy beauty like father Ra. Thou
dost illuminate Aukert (the underworld)
when thou sendest forth thy beams
among the great company of the gods
STAIRCASE
53
and among those that are in the Sacred
Land. I have made for thee an abode ;
Nut, the divine mother, does homage to
thy face even as does Horus of the two
horizons to thee. Lo ! I have made
the spirits of Pe and the spirits of
Nekhen. Rejoice thou like father Ra,
dwelling in the Amentet. The great
company of the gods is the power among
those that exist, they are the protectors
of thy members on thy journey to
Mother Isis. Thou restest calmly on
the seat of Osiris. May the Lords of
the Sacred Land receive thee, and
mayest thou be glad at heart onwards
to eternity, O great royal wife, etc., N.
triumphant before Osiris. Saith Anpu,
the Jackal god, who is in the place of
embalming, the great god, Lord of Re-
stau, there comes to me a daughter be-
loved, the great royal wife, etc., N., etc.
I have given [thee] to rise (shine) and
rest on the seat of Osiris, as thou
journeyest to Mother Isis together with
Nephthys. The great company of the
54 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
gods are thy protectors for evermore/
(to be repeated).
The inscription in columns below the long
horizontal line refers to Isis, and reads : —
‘ Saith I sis, daughter of Ra, great mother,
lady of the sky, [mistress] of all the
gods, ruler of the Sacred Land, there
cometh to me the great royal wife, etc.,
N. triumphant before O, etc. I have
given her an abode in the Sacred Land
in presence of Un-nefer. Thou risest
(shinest) like the Aten (sun-disc) in the
sky for ever-more like Ra.’
The speech continues in front of the kneel-
ing goddess : —
‘ Saith Isis, great divine mother, etc.,
. . . there cometh to me the great
royal wife, etc., N/
and behind we have the same wearisome
promises of an ‘abode in the Neter-Khert,
and rising in the sky like Ra, and of giving
light in Aukert, etc.’
Returning to the top of the staircase we
find that the right-hand wall presents an
almost similar picture, the difference being
STAIRCASE
55
in some of the personages and in a few
phrases of the texts. Instead of Isis we
have Hathor, to whom the queen offers two
bowls ; behind Hathor is Serket, instead of
Nephthys, but the latter goddess takes the
place of Isis, kneeling on the sign for gold.
The queen and Anubis are reproduced as
on the opposite wall, but she is here called,
in addition, ‘beloved palm-branch’ (a term of
endearment). Hathor, wearing her custom-
ary horns and disc, is styled ‘ Protectress
of Thebes, lady of the sky, mistress of all
the gods,’ and promises ‘an eternity like Ra,
and rising in the sky like him ’ ; while Serket
follows up with similar promises and adds
‘peace for (of) eternity.’ Maat is styled as
before, ‘ daughter of Ra, ruler of the Sacred
Land.’ The long speech of Anubis differs
only in a few unimportant phrases from that
on the opposite wall, but is more correctly
written. The discourse of Nephthys is
also much the same as that of Isis on the
opposite wall, with a few different epithets.
The speeches need not be reproduced here.
The legend across the beautiful lintel with
56 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
the figure of Maat reads : ‘ Saith Maat,
daughter of Ra, protected is the Son
(daughter), the great royal wife, N. trium-
phant.’ Over all is the sky. The side-posts
give the queen’s name and titles as before.
As we pass into the Pillared Room (No. 4),
we have, on either side of the doorway, the
same goddess Maat ; and on left and right,
further in, we find, respectively, the uraei
of South and North, supported by the neb
(lordship) sign, and also by a Dad , with the
queen’s omnipresent name.
We are now in the vestibule of the pillared
room. It is devoted to the arrival of the
queen at the various pylons or ‘ mansions ’
of the House of Osiris. Each is guarded by
monsters armed with knives, and before the
queen can ‘ pass on ’ to Osiris she must
know and be able to pronounce with ‘ power
and authority ’ their several names. The
deceased must also address the gate before it
can be opened. A knowledge of the ‘ name ’
is essential to her ‘salvation.’ Are we to
suppose that these monsters represent the
difficulties of life, either present or future ?
PILLARED ROOM
57
The Arits (cells or ‘mansions’) vary in
number; but they were usually seven; only
five are shown here. We begin on the
left as usual. Next the entrance the queen
stands adoring, with a table of offerings in
front, a hawk-headed monster with horns,
holding a tall palm-branch (?) in one hand,
and a huge knife in the other. Before him
is his Arit, and behind him is a crocodile-
headed monster, armed with a knife in both
hands ; while quite in the corner is another
figure holding an ankh (life) in both hands.
These three are respectively the doorkeeper,
the watcher, and the herald of the First Arit.
Three such deities were in charge of each
Arit.
Immediately in front of the queen are
her name and titles ; and with the next
column begins the story, which reads towards
the corner. It says : —
‘ Chapter of knowing the arits of the
House of Osiris in the Amentet, and
the gods who are in the divisions
(< qertu , caverns, divisions) and their
gods, to whom thou hast made offer-
58 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
ings on earth. Saith the Osiris its
doorkeeper (guardian) Se-khed-hrau-
astu-aru (he with face overturned, and
has many attributes) is the name of its
watcher (adjuster) ; the name of its
herald is Hui-kheru (he with a loud
voice). Saith the Osiris great royal
wife, etc., N. triumphant, when she
cometh to the arits : I am the great
name, who createth [her own] light.
I am come before thee, O Osiris,
Governor of Amentet ; I adore thee ;
pure are thy emanations (effluxes)
which flow (se-tau) from thee, which
make thy name of Re-setau.1 Hail to
thee, Osiris, in thy strength, in thy
might, in Re-setau, arise thou in thy
[strength] Osiris, in thy strength, in
thy power, in thy strength, thou, in
Re-setau, thy strength, thou, in Abydos.
Thou goest round the sky, thou sailest
in front of Ra (in the boat), thou be-
holdest all mankind, the only one who
goest round with Ra in it, for thou art
1 A good example of philological mythology.
PILLARED ROOM
59
called Osiris. I am Sahu (a divine
body or mummy (?)). I have said ; it
will come to pass ; there is no repulse
for me at it (the arit) at the walls of
burning coals. Open is the arit orbit
before the Osiris, the great royal wife
N., etc.’
Before taking the Second Arit, which
begins beyond the door of the side-room on
the left, we shall examine the latter. It pro-
bably was the real mortuary room, and led to
the mummy shaft. On the door-posts, as be-
fore, we have the uraeus goddesses of South
and North respectively, with the names of
the cities of Nekheb and Buto. Both deities
are styled ‘ Mistress of all the gods/ and pro-
mise ‘All life, stability, power, health, around
her/ Further in on the left are the names
and titles of the queen, and the queen her-
self, as a mummy, for the first time. On the
corresponding wall on the opposite side
is a Dad figure with arms hanging down,
between two symbols of power, with an
ankh hanging from each wrist. On the left-
hand wall we have, as we should expect in
60 QUEEN NEFERT-ARPS TOMB
this room, two of the funerary genii (the
children of Horus), Mesta (Amset) and
Duamutf, with Isis towards the angle, the
chief mourner at the burial. Mesta promises
the queen the usual ‘ abode in the Sacred
Land,’ and adds, ‘ we two ( i.e . himself and
Duamutf) have come as her protectors in
thy (sic) abode of eternity,’ said by Duamutf,
the Osiris, etc., N., etc. Isis, who is merely
named, extends life to the queen ; the first
time this has been done. On the opposite
wall the other pair of the funerary genii,
Hapi and Qebhsennuf, perform similar func-
tions, with much the same words, ‘ We two
come as thy (masc.) protectors.’ Nephthys,
the other mourner at the burial, has for
titles, ‘ Lady of the sky, Mistress of all the
gods, Eye of Ra. . . .\ Mistress of the
Two Lands of Horus, united to an abode
in Mannu (mountain of the Sunset).’
The culminating picture of this room is
of course the rear wall. The name and
titles of the queen run along the frieze ; in
the middle is a human head (the queen’s ?)
1 A word I cannot read.
ROOM 7
6 1
with a winged urseus on either side. To left
and right, facing inwards, are two figures
of Thoth, ibis-headed, holding a pole in both
hands, which supports the sky, with the
eyes of South and North respectively behind
him. On the extreme left the inscription
reads : ‘ Saith the South land to thee (masc.
pronoun, though the queen is meant), thou
(masc.) restest upon it, the Osiris Nefert-ari,
Mer-en-mut,’ and the North land on the
other side repeats the words. The centre
column has : ‘ The worthy before Anpu, the
Osiris royal wife N.’ Mesta and Duamutf
on right and left of centre column face the
Thoth of the North, whose name never occurs
here. The queen is said to be 4 worthy ’
before both those genii. The scene seems
to refer to chapter clxi., Book of the Dead ,
entitled ‘ The chapter of unfastening the
opening in the sky. Thoth does it so that
it may be finished when he opens (the sky)
with Aten.’ The object was to give the de-
ceased command of the four winds, for breath.
Coming back to the Pillared Room we
find the Second Arit on the left-hand wall,
6 2 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
beginning at the door of the side -room.
The figure of the queen is not repeated
before the arits on this side. To the right
of the columns of text is the pylon or gate,
and behind the ‘ mansion ’ are the three
monsters of the Arit, the first goat-headed,
the second lioness-headed with two snakes
on her head, and the third a male figure
with an ankh in both hands. The goat-
headed monster has a knife and a palm-
branch, while the lioness-headed creature
is doubly armed with a knife. They are
the doorkeeper, the watcher, and the herald
of the second Arit. The inscription, begin-
ning from the left, says : —
4 Arit Second : name of guardian of its
door is Un-hat-sen (open is their
breast ?), name of watcher, Seqed-hra
(he who turneth the face) ; name of its
herald, in it, is Uset (the eater). Saith
the Osiris, etc., N., etc., when she cometh
to this xArit, he (she) sitteth and does
the height of his desire, and weigheth
words as the second of Thoth. The
qualities of the Osiris, etc., N. tri-
PILLARED ROOM
63
umphant, are the qualities of Thoth.
When the Maats are helpless, those
hidden ones who live on Maat (truth)
in their years. The Osiris, etc., N.
triumphant before Osiris is mighty in
making offerings at the moment (the
right time). He (she) has made her
way out of the fire ; forward goes the
Osiris, etc., N. [she] hath made a way.
Grant thou that I may pass on and
accomplish the seeing of Ra, and re-
volve with Ra among those that make
offerings. The Osiris, etc., N. tri-
umphant, to make a way (?) grant that
I pass on and accomplish the seeing of
Ra and revolve with Ra.’
The Third Arit follows. The text in the
thirteen long columns is very much de-
stroyed. The first monster is ram- or goat-
headed, and has palm-branch and knife, with
buckle-amulet at belt ; the head of the next
figure is wanting, and the rest of the wall to
the corner is destroyed.
Arit Third : Name of the guardian
of its door is Eater of the dirt of . . . ;
6 4 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
name of watcher is Watchful One,
name of its herald is (wanting). Saith
Osiris, etc., N. . . . [when she cometh]
to the third Arit, I am the hidden . . .
water, the judge of the Rehui (the two
Combatant Gods, Horus and Set.) I
have come, I have destroyed . . .
[what is wrong] in the Osiris. I am
he that is girt about,1 coming from
... [I have] made matters good in
[Abydos] and opened a path in Re-
stau. Soothed have I the hurts of
Osiris, soothed the hurts of Osiris,
I have straightened (balanced) his
standard. I have made a way in Re-
stau. I have made a way. Shineth
the Osiris, etc., N. triumphant before all
the gods. [I] have soothed the hurts
of Osiris, Dwelling in the Amentet,
Un-nefer, Sovereign of all living be-
ings.’
Arit Fourth. The text is wanting, only
the monsters are given.
1 The text is quite clear here : it is the same as in
chapter cxvil., Book of the Dead .
PILLARED ROOM 65
Arit Fifth is on the rear wall, left half.
The inscription runs : —
cArit Fifth: Name of [guardian] of
its door, Ankh-en-fentu (He that lives
on worms) ; name of their (its) watcher,
Shabu (flaming fire) ; name of herald in
it, Deb-herk-ha-Kheft (Naville trans-
lates, “the bow which strikes the
furious”?). Saith the Osiris, great royal,
etc., N., etc., when she cometh to Arit
Fifth, I have brought the two jaw-
bones that are in Re-stau (compare
chapter cxxxvi. b., where much the
same text occurs : Naville prefers to
translate, “ I have closed the doors in
Re-stau ”) ; I have [brought] to thee
rays of light1 that are in On (Helio-
polis), totalling his multitudes there.
I have repulsed Apep (the serpent
opponent of Ra) ; I have healed
(literally, “ spit upon ”2 ; compare chap-
1 The only determinative here of the word fiesd is the
sun’s disc with rays, hence the translation given above.
Another determinative sometimes appears with the word,
which would then perhaps mean ‘ bones.’
2 Spitting was a common method of divine healing
among the Egyptians. So Thoth healed Horus when he
E
66 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
ter cii.) the wounds [he made]; I have
made a way among you/
Here the Arits end. The artist had
probably miscalculated his space and had
no room for more.
At this point it will be convenient to
examine the pillars. Their decoration
presents a certain amount of symmetry, as
in all tombs with pillars supporting the roof.
Looking at them from the entrance, we shall
call the left-hand pillar A, the right-hand
one B ; and the two behind these, C and D
respectively. On A and B we have a
youthful priest clad in a leopard’s skin,
called the An-mutf (column or pillar of his
mother; see Sen-nofers Tomb , p. 22), who
was supposed to represent Horus the son of
Osiris performing the filial duty of burying
his father. For Osiris we must here
substitute Nefert-ari. Going round by the
left we have on the faces of A and C,
opposite the wall, the queen before Hathor
and Isis successively. If now we stand in
was wounded by Set. Compare St. Mark vii. 33 : Jesus
‘ put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his
tongue’: viii. 23, ‘And when Jesus had spit on his eyes,’ etc.
THE PILLARS
67
the centre of the room, and look towards
the Sanctuary (Room 7), we have four Osiris
mummies, one on each pillar, two of which
are on the left hand, facing the Sanctuary,
and two, those on the right hand, face the
outer entrance. The first pair represents the
progress of the queen in her identification
with Osiris, the Great God ; while the latter
pair points to the complete reconstitution of
all her members ; in other words, the resur-
rection of her body, as the speech on pillar
B, to which we shall refer later, declares.
The speech on pillar A indicates an earlier
stage, namely the overcoming of all her
enemies so as to permit her to advance.
From the same standpoint in the centre of
the room we can see on the other sides of
the four pillars a large Dad , the symbol of
the backbone of Osiris, representing his
reconstitution or reconstruction (resurrec-
tion), but note that the queen’s name stands
on either side of the symbol. This shows
that she is being associated with Osiris in
his reconstruction or resurrection. Next,
passing round to the right of pillar B, we
68 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
have the queen before Isis, and on pillar D
the queen before Anubis. Lastly, if we stand
with our back to the Sanctuary entrance, we
have on the right-hand pillar (C) the queen
before Hathor, and on the left, pillar D, the
queen before Isis, the two great mother
goddesses. Such is the symmetrical scheme
of decoration, which also serves a religious
purpose here as in Sen-nofer’s Tomb.
Let us now examine the pillars individu-
ally. Pillars A and B are the most instruc-
tive, as they show us the An-mutf figures.
That on A, with its inscription, represents
an earlier stage in the queens other-world
progress. The priest is a youthful figure,
in a leopard’s skin, who personates Horus
the son of Osiris and Isis at his father’s
burial. He was called, in reference to his
father, Se-nieri-f, ‘ the son whom he loves,’
and in reference to his mother An-mutf,
‘ pillar or support of his mother.’ The in-
scription reads : ‘ The Horus An-mutf, I
am thy son, whom thou lovest, O Father
Osiris, I am come. Hail to thee, Hail to
thee, I have beaten down for thee thy
THE PILLARS
69
enemies (said twice). I give to thee, thy
daughter, whom thou lovest, even the Osiris,
the great royal wife, Lady of the Two
Lands, N. triumphant. She rests (sets) in
the palace of the great company of the gods,
among the strong ones (the victorious ?) of
Osiris, united to all that are in the Sacred
Land.’
Mr. Griffith (. Deshasheh , p. 47), in refer-
ring to a curious symbol at Beni- Hasan,
consisting of a man supporting a monkey-
figure in an upright position, translates the
inscription as * pillar of the Ka of the
mother,’ which appears later as ‘of the Ka
of his mother ? ; and in Beni Hasan , Hiero-
glyphics, p. 28, he adds, ‘ The precise signi-
ficance of the female ape in the Egyptian
mythology is quite unknown.’
On the same pillar to the left, opposite
the wall, the queen is caressed by Hathor ;
and further on, pillar C, Isis also receives
her affectionately.
The Osiris mummies are variously styled,
‘ Governor of Amentet, Great God, ruler
of the Company of the Gods, Lord of
70 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
the Sacred Land, Sovereign Master of
Eternity,’ and to the queen is promised, as
before, ‘ a rising like Ra in the sky, an
abode in the Sacred Land for evermore,’ etc.
On the Dad symbols she is represented as
‘ triumphant before Osiris, all the gods, and
also before Maat’ (unless this be a mistake).
The An-mutf figure on pillar B makes a
rather different speech from the other, and
shows a further stage, as has been said, in
the progress of Nefert-ari; ‘ Saith Horus :
Hail ! Father, I am thy son, whom thou
lovest, I have come with thy members ; I
have come and have joined together for
thee thy members ; I bring to thee thy
heart, Father Osiris, Lord of Amentet.
Grant thou to unite the great royal wife,
lady of the Two Lands, N. triumphant,
before the great company of the gods,
among those that are in Neter-Khert (the
underworld).’
Passing round to the right, we have on
this pillar, Isis endowing the queen with
life, after all her members have been re-
united and her heart given back to her ;
PILLARED ROOM
7 1
and further on, pillar D, we see Anubis
welcoming the queen in a similar fashion.
Lastly, on the sides of pillars C and D,
which face the Sanctuary, we have Isis and
Hathor respectively embracing the queen.
We now return to the entrance, and deal
with the queen’s progress through the
pylons or cells which occupied originally
the whole of the right-hand side of this
chamber. Much has perished. Twenty-one
such pylons are given in the papyrus of
Nu; and ten in the papyrus of Ani. This
number was probably shown here also, but
some of them are destroyed. These pylons
or cells are dealt with in chapter cxlvi., Book
of the Dead. Professor Naville says it is
difficult to know what these sebkhets are, and
while using Renouf’s translation ‘ pylon,5
he prefers to call them ‘ cells,5 since each
sebkhet has an occupant, a doorkeeper as
Renouf translates the word, but as Naville
would prefer, ‘ he who is within the door.’
The sebkhets belong to the House of Osiris,
and are feminine in Egyptian, which is also
the gender of each occupant, though some
72 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
of them are ferocious enough looking to be
masculine ! The queen having triumphantly
passed through the Arits on the other side,
with their triple monsters, now advances to
the task of confronting the ‘ terrible ones ’
of her own sex, as opponents more to be
feared, before she is admitted to the Fields
of Bliss. But equipped as before with the
knowledge of their ‘ names/ and how to
utter them with ‘ power and authority,’ she
is confident of victory.
At the entrance she stands in white robes,
wearing lofty plumes, and does reverence to
her first opponent, a hawk-headed monster
crouching within her cell and brandishing a
huge knife. The queen’s address, after her
name and titles, is : ‘1 have come before
thee, O Osiris, Governor of Amentet, great
god ; I am worthy (venerable), loving the
place of truth, living ... in Maat (truth).
I have not committed faults . . . the way
of Amentet.’
The inscription at the First Cell is also
very fragmentary : ‘ Cell First . . . Lady
of tremblings, with lofty walls . . . directing
PILLARED ROOM
73
the words which repulse [the storm] . . .
that is coming on the way ’ is [thy] name.
Name of the occupant is lost.
In the Sai'te recension the answer from
each pylon is ‘ Pass on, then, thou art pure.
The Second Cell occupies the remaining
space to the angle of the wall. A lioness-
headed deity, crouching and armed as before,
is within the cell. The inscription is in
better preservation than the last one, and
says : —
‘ Cell Second (is) Lady of the sky,
Mistress of the Two Lands, devourer1
of the Two Lands (sic), Lady of man-
kind,. who discerneth all men (or, is
great beyond every one). Name of
guardian of its door is Meses-pehu.
Cell Second is lady of the sky, Mistress
of the two lands, the devourer,1 the
lady of mankind, who discerneth every
one. Name of guardian of its door is
Mes . . .’
The word is written nbsaa in the tomb.
74 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
Room 6, or Hathor Room
We must now examine Room 6, the small
chamber to the right. The door jambs, like
those of the chamber opposite, are conse-
crated, south and north respectively, to the
uraeus goddesses Nekhebt and Uazit. They
rear themselves on the neb (lordship) sign,
supported by dads, and hold the symbols
of royal power and authority. The inner
jambs are devoted to name and titles of the
queen.
Advancing to the left we find a large Dad
reaching to the ceiling and holding the two
symbols of sovereignty across the breast.
As a personality the Dad * gives joy of
heart to the queen.’ The wall on the left is
much destroyed. It represents the queen
before the Divine Cow Hathor, as she was
supposed to come out of the mountain in
the West in primeval times towards the
marshes, in order to suckle the infant Horus.
Between her black horns is the red (lunar ?)
disc, with red, black, and blue feathers alter-
nately, and a uraeus stands out from the disc.
HATHOR ROOM
75
She is described as ‘ Het-heru (Hat-hor,
House of Horus), Mistress President of
Thebes, Ruler of the Mountain of the West,
Lady of the Sky,’ and then behind the name
of the queen, which is placed above Hathor’s
back, we have c Eye of Ra . . . she who is
in his Aten ’ (disc). The presence of the
queen’s name above the cow seems to indi-
cate that Hathor has adopted her as her
own. Hathor has a menat (symbol of joy
and pleasure) round her neck, and behind
her are the usual amulet signs of ‘protec-
tion,’ etc. The queen, who is offering
flowers, etc., to Hathor, is now briefly
described as the ‘ Osiris, Lady of the Two
Lands, N. triumphant before the great god
of Amentet,’ and behind her are the amulet
signs. The ceremony is described as ‘ the
giving of all beautiful or good flowers
(growing herbs?) to thy Ka! This is the
only reference to a Ka in the whole tomb,
but note that it is Hathor’s Ka that is
meant. Hathor’s promise is unfortunately
lost.
On the right side wall we have a counter-
;6 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
part scene in the appearance of the queen
before Anubis. A table of offerings but no
inscription stands between the queen and
the god, behind whom is Isis, also enthroned.
Her head is destroyed, but the text above
tells us that it is ‘ Isis, great lady of the sky,
Mistress of . . . .’ It is seldom she is thus
associated with Anubis who is here de-
scribed as ‘ the Governor of the Divine
Dwelling, Great God, Lord of Shet (Hidden
place ? ).’
The culminating scene of this room, as of
the others, is on the rear wall, where we
have the standing figure of a goddess,
facing to the right, with both arms out-
stretched, one in front, the other behind,
across the whole room. The arms are
winged. The head is destroyed, as well
as the beginning of the inscription which
would have told us who she is, pro-
bably Maat or Isis, ‘ Mistress of all the
gods.’ Two columns of inscription on the
extreme right would also have given us
the desired information. Remains of the
promises of the goddess are given in front
HATHOR ROOM
77
of her : ‘[I give] to thee all strength before
. . . I give to thee the duration of Ra.’ Be-
hind the figure we have new titles bestowed
on the queen, ‘ The Osiris, great royal wife,
lady of the two lands, Mistress of South
and North, the lady precious, favoured,
beloved, united to an abode in the House of
Amen (secret house?) Mut-meryt, Nefert-
ari, triumphant before the cycle of the gods
. . . that is in the Sacred Land, among
those that are with Osiris the Great God.’
Returning now to the Pillared Room we
resume examination of the Cells.
Cell Third, containing a female
monster with crocodile head, and the
usual knife, is ‘ Lady of altars, great in
offerings . . . every god as he sails to
Abydos . . . Name of her doorkeeper
is Sebeq . . . (perhaps some form of
Sebek, crocodile) . . . great one, sail-
ing to Abydos.’
Cell Fourth has a cow-headed
monster, similarly armed; she is ‘ mighty
with knives . . . mistress of the two
lands, destroyer of the enemies of Quiet
78 QUEEN NEFERT-ARI’S TOMB
Heart (a name of Osiris), giver of
counsel, she who lacketh defects.
Name of guardian of her door is Nekau
(Bull).’
The Fifth Cell (a boy-looking
monster, with malformed head, and
two knives) is ‘ Lady of increase (hau)
of joy (rshsht) [to] him who makes
supplication to her : none shall come
near her, none who is on earth (?).
(Papyrus of Ani agrees with this text,
and also reads ‘who is on his head.’)
Name of guardian of her doorkeeper is
Henti-reqi (enemy of the Fiends?).
None shall come near, etc. (as before).
The next Cell is partly destroyed. The
monster is snake -headed, and armed as
before. The text given is a jumble of two ;
the beginning is the text for the Eighth
Cell, and the end belongs to the Sixth. As
far as it can be given it reads : —
‘ Cell [Sixth ? five plus x] is Blazing
fire, flame not to be quenched, she who
is provided with fires, far-reaching of
hand, slayer not to be denied. None
PILLARED ROOM
79
passes near her for fear of the hurt
thereof. Name of the guardian [of her
door] Khut-chetf (Protector of his body.’
Then follow some words from Cell
Sixth . . . . ‘ not found . . . there is a
serpent . . . born (plural) in presence
of him of the Quiet Heart. Name of
guardian . . . .’
The Seventh Cell is almost completely
destroyed. Its monster has a human head,
coloured blue ; he is armed with the usual
knife. A word for weeping , wailing (?)
seems to come from the Text of Cell Seventh
(Papyrus of Ani).
Cell Ninth seems to be entirely unrepre-
sented.
Cell Tenth is the last here given, and is
shown on the rear wall, right half. Its
guardian is dog-headed, with knife in hand,
and faces the corner of the room. The
text is in four complete vertical columns
‘ Cell Ten is Loud of voice, she who
rousest (?) those who cry out (?), fearful
in her terrors ; they (?) fear not what is
within her. Name of guardian of her
80 QUEEN NEFERT-ARFS TOMB
door, Embracer of the great one (great
embracer?).’
We have now arrived at the point where
the queen, by the aid of the magical words
on the wall beside her, has vanquished her
enemies and all the monsters guarding the
Arits, and passed triumphantly through all
the portals of the House of Osiris ; and now
she stands before the great Triad of the
gods of the next life, a glorified being, and
adores with uplifted hands Osiris, Hathor,
and Anubis. The strong symbol of the re-
constituted Osiris is before her, as being
now her own, and she is styled, ‘ The Osiris,
great royal wife, N. triumphant before Osiris.’
Osiris is the first and the last of her name :
she is one with him. On a standard before
the Great God are the Four Living Crea-
tures, the Children of Horus, with blue and
red coloured heads. Osiris, with green face
as typical of his growth from the dead, and
wearing the atef crown, is enthroned in
state. His name is ‘Osiris, Chief of those
who are in Amentet, Great God. ’ Behind
him is Hathor, with the symbol of the West
THE SANCTUARY
81
on her head, and left arm round Osiris and
the right extended to his neck, while behind
her is Anubis, with left arm similarly
disposed round Hathor. These two deities
are simply named. Note that the queen
offers nothing but adoration : the time of
offerings is past.
Unfortunately, the Sanctuary is almost a
total wreck. Only the merest fragments of
figures and words can be made out ; the
goddesses Serk and Isis, etc. Osiris would
again be the principal figure in the centre
of the back wall, and grouped around him
would probably be the other deities, Hathor,
Neith, Anubis, Maat, in whose presence
Nefert-ari would spend her everlasting life
beyond.
F
QUEEN TY-T1’S TOMB
QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
The Tomb of this queen ranks next in
interest and beauty to that of Queen Nefert-
ari. It has been known for more than
thirty years ; and in that period the royal
lady for whom it was executed has fallen
from the eminence and splendour of being
the consort of one of the most illustrious
of Egyptian potentates, Amenhotep hi.
(c. 1414-1379 b.c.), and the mother of his
still more interesting son, Amenhotep iv.
(Khu-en-aten), the great reformer, down
to the comparative obscurity of the wife of
an insignificant Rameses of the xxth Dynasty
(c. 1 200- 1 100 b.c). For this strange
vicissitude she has to thank the author
of two books published in 1879 and 1882,
who had no hesitation in affirming that this
tomb was that of the queen of Amen-
hotep hi. In this opinion he was followed
86 OUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
by the enterprising English Editor of the
late Brugsch Bey's Egypt under the
Pharaohs (vol. i. pp. 490, 491), who un-
hesitatingly accepts his predecessor as a first-
class authority, and identifies the cartouches
in this tomb with those of the queen on the
Colossi at Thebes. The amount of simi-
larity may be readily seen from almost any
transliteration of the two names that may
be adopted (the earlier queen, Tiy or Thyi,
and the later Ty-ti). Beginning with the
name of Tai, a lady whom the author
of Nile Glea7iings calls a sovereign of
Dynasty xvil, mentioned on a tomb at El
Kab, he says that ‘ the name, in one form
or another , remained in fashion all through
the xvmth Dynasty,' and appeared among
others ‘ in the name of the celebrated queen
of Amenhotep 111. Tai-ti.’ That indeed
might well be, but it does not follow that
our tomb is that of Amenhotep in.'s queen,
whose name was something like Tiy, but
not Ty-ti (a t being lacking in the middle
of the word). In the same book (p. 244)
he gives a portrait of the queen of this
37
QUEEN TY-TPS TOMB
tomb, whom he calls the Consort of Amen-
hotep in., and yet (p. 243) he refers to it as
that of the lady who is caressing Rameses 111.
in the Temple of Medinet Habou ! The
whole story affords one more curious instance
of an ill-informed traveller’s assertion pass-
ing into the domain of respectable history.
But the erroneous identification has fallen
into discredit. It is now known, from the
correct reading of the name, the style of art,
and other considerations, that it is not the
tomb of Amenhotep iu.’s consort: further,
that there are no tombs in the so-called
Valley of the Queens’ Tombs earlier than
Dynasty xix. The oldest tomb of a queen,
which seems to be mentioned in the Abbot
Papyrus (Breasted’s Records , iv. pp. 257,
258), is the tomb of Isis, wife of Rameses 111. ,
situated ‘ in the great seats (tombs) of the
king’s children, the king’s wives, and the
king’s mothers, which are in “ the Place-of-
Beauty.”’ The Place -of- Beauty was pro-
bably this valley, where ‘ the king’s children,
king’s wives, king’s mothers, the goodly
fathers and mothers of Pharaoh, rest ? : and
88 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
the tomb of Isis is in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of our queen’s tomb. It is quite
of the same style, size, and plan.
Besides, to crown the evidence, the tomb,
though not the body, of Amenhotep in.’s
queen Thyi', was discovered in the Valley
of the Tombs of the Kings in the winter of
1906-7, close to the tomb of Rameses ix.
It was a burial of the El Amarna period,
as Mr. Ayrton says, from the signs of Aten
worship present ; and the name of Khu-en-
aten’s mother, and many objects belonging
to her were found.
But no account of queen Ty-tis life can,
unfortunately, be given, as nothing is known
beyond her name and titles contained in this
tomb. These need not be given here, as
they will occur in the course of the following
pages. The tomb consists of an ante-
chamber, at the entrance, a long corridor,
with two side-rooms, and the usual sanc-
tuary at the back. The long vestibule may
be taken to represent a kind of ante-chamber
of the next world, while the inner chamber
with its side-rooms and sanctuary, refer to
THE CORRIDOR 89
the more remote life of the future. Like
the scenes in Nefert-aris tomb, those of
Queen Ty-ti’s deal entirely with the life of
the future, and not with any form of terres-
trial life, either material or ideal.
We shall adopt here also the numbering
of the rooms as given by Baedeker. No. 1
is the ante-chamber ; No. 2 is the corridor ;
No. 3 is the principal chamber ; No. 4 is the
side-room on the right hand ; No. 5 is that
on the left ; and No, 6 is the sanctuary.
The Corridor
Beginning, as usual, with the left-hand
side, on entering, we have the goddess
Maat (Truth or Law) kneeling on the sign
for dominion, with outspread wings, to
welcome the queen, Maat is styled ‘ Lady
of the sky, mistress of all the gods.’ The
first figure of the queen, wearing a vulture
head-dress, with blue wig and pink and
white robe, faces inward and confronts Ptah
in adoration, who stands in his shrine with
green face and white body. Unfortunately,
90 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
not one of the queens heads has escaped
mutilation, and no true portrait of her can
be presented. Further on the queen, wear-
ing a disc and two lofty plumes on her
head, and holding up two sistrums, adores
‘ Horus~on-the-horizons, Lord of the Sky,’
and still further on she confronts Amset,
one of the four children of Horus, who, like
his brethren, performs important functions
in the funeral rites. Here the queen is
called 4 Hereditary princess, great one of
the favourites (or, of all favours) beloved
palm-branch, Mistress of South and North,
great royal wife, lady of the Two Lands,’
and she is also called ‘ worthy (revered)
before Amset, the Osiris Lady of the Two
Lands T.’ Amset is here properly man-
headed ; and behind him stands Dua-mutf,
jackal-headed, before whom she is also
‘worthy.’ Associated with these two genii,
as being closely connected with the burial
rites, stands ‘ Isis, the great divine mother,
lady of the sky,’ as one of the wailing sisters,
mourning for the dead Osiris. The queen
is now styled ‘ divine mother, divine wife,
THE CORRIDOR
9i
royal wife/ It is interesting to compare
the titles given to her with those bestowed
on Nefert-ari.
Returning to the doorway, we have the
complement in every scene of the foregoing.
The goddess Maat, in the same attitude, is
now styled ‘ the Eye of Ra, lady of the sky,
mistress of all the gods, protectress of the
Two Lands/ The queen now appears
before Thoth, ibis-headed, as the counter-
part of Ptah on the opposite wall. He is
called ‘ Chief or master of the divine words/
He wears the yellow moon-disc, as a
measurer of the months, with horns. She
also appears before Toum, as she did on
the opposite wall before Horus-on-the-
horizons, again shaking two sistrums, and
is styled ‘ Hereditary princess, great one
of the favourites, palm-branch of loves/
Toum, always represented as human, is
simply named ‘ Lord of the Two Lands of
On (Heliopolis)/ The queen next appears
before Hapi, dog-headed, and Oebh-sennuf,
hawk-headed, the two remaining children of
Horus, as on the opposite wall, and before
92 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
them also she is declared ‘worthy/ To
balance Isis on the opposite side we have
Nephthys here, as the other wailing sister
in the obsequies of Osiris.
Next, at the left and right of the end of
the corridor, as we go into the main chamber
we have the goddesses Neith and Serket
respectively. Neith wears here also the
shuttle on her head, and is here called the
‘ Lady of Sais * (her city in the Delta), lady
of heaven, mistress of all the gods, eye of
the Sun, without her equal.' Serket on the
other side, with scorpion diadem, is called
‘ Mistress (lady) of serpents (perhaps Rerek,
the serpent fiend), mistress of the house of
writings (the libraries of the religious or
magical literature) lady of the sky, mistress
of all the gods for ever and ever, every day.’
Neith and Serk are here, as in Nefert-ari’s
tomb, the two goddess-guides into the
remoter regions of the world beyond.
We thus see that there is a perfect sym-
metry observed on these two walls. Maat,
at both sides of the entrance ; on left wall,
Ptah, the Sun on the eastern horizon, followed
THE CORRIDOR
93
by two children of Horus, then Isis, and
lastly Neitli ; and on the right-hand wall, a
similar sequence, Thoth and Toum (the
sun at close of day), with the other two
children of Horus, then Nephthys and Serk.
It is quite possible to trace in this associa-
tion of the four deities, Ptah, Horus-on-the-
horizons, Thoth, and Toum, an attempt to
combine two systems of belief, viz. the cycle
of beliefs associated with Ra with that of
those of the older gods Ptah and Thoth.
Be that as it may, they are here placed
symmetrically along with the embalming
gods, as the special guardians of the dead.
An inscription runs along the frieze from
either side of the entrance, to the following
effect (left), ‘ Given by the grace of the king
to her whom he loved, the Osiris royal
daughter, royal sister, great royal wife, lady
of the two lands. Ty-ti, triumphant, before
the great god . . . said by all these great
gods that are of Amentet, — we grant her
an abode in the sacred land like Osiris, lord
of everlastingness, we grant her bread,
cakes, a coming into the presence of the
94
QUEEN TY-TFS TOMB
company of those gods that are in Akert,
a going out of and a coming into the Lower
World, and passing through the gates, and
all pleasantness ... to the Osiris, great
royal wife, etc., T. triumphant, lady of worth,
whom he loves.’
The frieze inscription on the right-hand
side differs in some respects : ‘ Given by
the grace of the king to her whom he loves,
the Osiris, his daughter, royal mother, great
royal wife T.y triumphant before the great
god, Ruler of Ament. Said by all those
gods, we give her an abode in the Sacred
Land, like Ra, on his horizon, abodes . . .
may she receive bread wherever she goes
in presence of the gods, and be established
among the perfect ones, gifts of ... in
Dadu, water in Abdu, the Osiris, etc., T.}
given life for evermore.’
The Main Chamber
On entering the large chamber we are
confronted on the left hand by a white
Anubis guardian of the inner tomb, as a
THE MAIN CHAMBER
95
jackal, couching on a tomb, and holding a
sceptre, while beneath him is a white lion
similarly posed. Anubis is described as ‘ he
that is in the place of embalming, the chief
of (dwelling in) the divine Hall. The lion is
not named : he may be one of the two lions,
‘ Yesterday ’or ‘ To-morrow,’ of Nefert-ari’s
tomb.
Further on, still on the left, we come upon
two dog-headed apes, seated on a tomb or
pylon, and preceded by a monkey, standing
erect, with a long tail, and holding a bow in
both hands. It is difficult to say what these
creatures stand for. They are here called
Auf, which in other places refers to the
‘dead body’ or ‘flesh’ of Osiris (and therefore
of the deceased) when he entered the Under-
world, or Ra himself dead. It seems
probable, from the absence of a figure of the
queen, that she is identified with this ‘flesh’
or ‘body’ of Ra in his progress in the
Underworld. She would then be the Great
Auf of Ra, to whom nine apes open the gates
in the First Division of the Duat (Under-
world), ‘ The apes (ambenti) open the doors
96
QUEEN TY-TES TOMB
to thee/ The inscription above points in
this direction. It says, after the titles and
name of the queen, ‘ I (the queen) testify I
am Maat (declared triumphant) in presence
of the company of the gods, . . . my heart
has been weighed in (all) my forms . . .
there is no testimony against the Osiris,
lady, etc., 7V Some phrases here recall the
chapter of the weighing of the Heart of the
Deceased in the Book of the Dead ; and as
Thoth takes a prominent part in that
weighing, the apes here represented may be
taken to be his companions.
We now come to the left hand side-
chamber. Over the entrance the royal
vulture is outspread, and from the centre of
the lintel, to right and left and down the
door posts (jambs), we have an abbreviated
form of the inscriptions on the frieze of the
corridor : ‘ Given by the grace of the King
to his royal daughter of his body, whom he
loves, etc.’
In the room itself there are only two walls
preserved. The middle wall, facing the
entrance, which ought to be the climax of
ROOM 5
97
both side-walls, is totally destroyed. At the
entrance on the left and right we have
again the Jackal Anubis guarding the
abode. Then on both sides there is an
An-mut-f priest (whom Mr. Villiers Stuart
takes to be the queen’s son Amenhotep iv.,
Khu-en-aten!) offering incense and water to
the deceased before she enters, once more,
into the august presence of the embalming
deities. The priest on the left side says :
‘Offering of incense and water by the An-
mut-f, the father Osiris Lord of eternity.’
The inscription beside the priest on the
other side is almost identical. On the left-
hand side the queen, with two sistrums,
confronts Amset, Hapi, Duamutf and Qebh-
sennuf, each with his characteristic head, as
embalmers of the dead. There is no address
from the queen, but behind her are the
amulet signs : ‘ Protection, life, stability,
power, of every kind, around her, like Ra,
for ever and ever, in peace.’ Her name
stands before her as being ‘ for eternity ’ ;
and between each of the gods her name as
an Osiris appears to show that she is theirs.
G
98 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
Above the queen’s head, as a frieze, an in-
scription runs to right, stating that she is
4 worthy before * the embalming deities,
while a similar one, to the left, affirms the
same of her ‘ before all the gods of the
Ament.’
On the wall opposite, the queen again
appears adoring the same deities, but there
is a curious difference in the picture ; the
deities are now all human-headed. It is
hard to say what this means, unless it
be to mark some further stage in their
relation to the queen, or possibly to indi-
cate some other function of theirs than
embalmers. She says to them ‘ The giving
of all foods (?) as is due.’ The frieze
inscription is almost the same as on the other
side.
Emerging from the mummy room and
proceeding along the left-hand wall, we
meet the first of the monsters of the
Duat, or the lower world, which the queen
must overcome : a large vulture or eagle-
headed bird, blue with green wings ; a
crocodile or hippo-headed beast, crouching,
THE QUEEN OFFERING TO OSIRIS KHENTI AMENTET . TOUM,
THE MAIN CHAMBER
99
with two blue knives, and having a red disc
on his head ; and a boy-like figure with
misshapen head and red body, holding two
knives, one blue, the other green. These
three are called ‘gods of the Dual,’ and
seem to correspond to certain monster Cell-
keepers of the House of Osiris, which we
have seen in Nefert-ari’s tomb.
Beyond the last demon-guardian was a
figure of Duamutf, now mutilated, and in
front of him, Amset (or Mesta), to both of
whom the queen pays homage holding two
sistrums, as in the outer corridor. It is
rather curious to note the frequency with
which the four children of Horus appear
in this tomb. The other two, Hapi and
Oebhsennuf, are on the other side of the
door. Above the present pair we have the
maktet (mad, or madet) or morning boat in
which Ra traverses the sky, which is repre-
sented underneath. A sort of cabin, or
sanctuary, stands amidships, where the god
(and the deceased identified with him) sits.
In front of the cabin is the hieroglyph shems ,
which represents the ‘ follower’ or ‘servant’
100 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
of Ra. Nine such servants are shown in
the eighth hour of the Duat in the tomb of
Sety i. From the bow hangs a kind of
drapery, red with green fringes, similar to
the draperies shown on the sacred barque
of Horus-on-the-horizons in the Temple of
Sety at Abydos. The look-out here is the
Eye of Horus, and the boat is steered by
the Same Eye.
Returning now to the entrance, we have
on the right hand a lion-headed demon
standing, with a knife in the left hand, while
his right hand, open, is stretched towards
the door. He is there to oppose the passage
of the queen, and is called ‘ Lord-of-terrors-
with-face-of-right,’ but the queen knows his
name, and so he says, ‘ the doors are open
for thee, thrown open are the secret places.’
Behind the demon is a strange figure of the
queen, naked, sitting on a red cushion, the
uraeus on her brow, and a white head-
dress, left hand on knee and right up to
left shoulder. Farther on are two more
guardian demons, one with a heron’s head
holding two knives, and the other with
ROOM 4
IOI
head indistinguishable. No names of these
creatures are given, but over them are the
names and titles of the queen, with the oft-
repeated words, ‘ given by the grace of the
king, etc.,’ which are repeated at greater
length on both door-posts of the entrance
to the side-room. A vulture with outspread
wings is over the lintel.
As we enter the side-room we have on
the left the queen as acting a beardless
anmutf priest, offering incense and a liba-
tion. That it is the queen and no other is
proved by the words, ‘ great royal wife, lady
of the two lands, T. triumphant/ written
over her head. Further on we meet three
human figures, each pointing to the car-
touche of the queen. The first figure has a
jackal’s head, the second a snake’s, and the
third a crocodile’s. Their tunics are green,
with spots and bars, and their wigs are blue.
The words along the frieze tell us who they
are : ‘ All the gods of the cells of the hidden
places that are in the Duat (underworld), the
openers of the great doors (or, the great
doors are open),’ and they say (in the
102 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
vertical column in front), ‘We have given
to her the cooling water that comes from
On (the Celestial On) (to) the Osiris T.
triumphant/ Three only of these ‘ gods
that are in the Duat ' are here represented.
Behind are the four boxes containing the
internal organs, etc., of the queen, which
were guarded by the four embalming deities.
Each has a human head atop, and on each
is inscribed ‘Worthy (or revered) before
Amset, Duamutf, etc./ respectively.
Beginning again at the entrance we have
the queen once more as an Anmutf priest,
this time with a beard, offering incense and
a libation to herself, as both inscriptions
show. Her priest’s skin is yellow with
brown or red spots, the belt is blue, her
collar is green, and her body is brown. She
wears the uraeus as before.
Behind the queen we have three more
gods of the Duat, as on the opposite wall.
The first is crocodile-headed, the second
heron-headed, and the third hawk-headed
(male figure, naked). Between them are
the cartouches of the queen, as on the
ROOM 4 103
other side. The two vertical columns of
inscription read : 4 Utterance of all the great
company of the gods of the Duat, Lord of
terrors, great god . . . say they, we have
given to her peace (?) in the Sekhet-aanru
(Fields where the ploughing and the sow-
ing, etc., were done in the next world, and
where the grain is three cubits high, etc.),
cool water to drink in the Sekhet-hetep (the
Fields of Peace).’
Further on and facing towards the end
wall, so as to form the retinue of the queen
who stands there opposite Hathor’s tree, are
two deities, both kneeling and adoring, one
with a jackal’s head and the other with a
hawk’s or falcon’s head. They are kneeling
on a large perch or standard, and hold the
right hand to the breast, and represent
Anubis and Horus, with whom are re-
spectively associated certain spirits, called
the souls of (the city of) Pe, and of (the
city of) Nekhen. These are the celestial
counterparts of the cities of Buto and El
Kab respectively, or, shortly, North and
South. These spirits or souls are usually
104 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
grouped in threes and represented as
servants of the Sun, hailing his rising and
setting with acclamations. It was essential
for the deceased to know them, as chapters
cxii. and cxiii. of the Book of the Dead
inform us. Here they adore the queen, as
it is said in a hymn to Ra, ‘ The souls of
the cities of Pe and Nekhen exalt thee ’ ; this
is said especially when Ra (or the deceased)
reaches the divine barque. Their words in
this tomb are difficult to interpret : ‘ Utter-
ance of the Souls of Pe, and of Nekhen ; we
send forth shouts of joy ; cool (or pure) be
thy name like those of the gods that are
in Duat.’
Now we come to the culminating scene,
on the wall opposite the door. The queen,
attired in a white robe, edged with blue,
with a green wig, vulture head-dress and
uraeus, stands before the sacred sycamore,
and catches the water in her hands that
flows in two refreshing streams from the
jars that Hathor, as a woman, pours out
from within the tree. The goddesses Nut
and Isis are also associated in this way with
HATHOR SYCAMORE
105
the sycamore (nehet) tree. In chapter
clxxxix., Book of the Dead, ‘the beautiful
sycamore * is said to stand in the pool of
Akeb. Behind the tree is the goddess
Hathor, as the divine cow issuing from the
Gap (chapter clxix.) in the mountain of the
west. She is of a tawny colour, and has a
white disc between her horns, with a red
cloth thrown over her back and a menat
hanging behind her neck. The inscriptions
give the titles and name of the queen, and
Hathor, ruler of Amentet, says that she ‘ is
giving cool water of Nile the great one
(i.e. the celestial Nile), that is Truth.’ In
Sen-nofer’s tomb Isis occupies the place of
Hathor in the tree, and there is food as well
as drink there : and here the queen was
strengthened with celestial bread and water
for her journey towards perfect bliss.
And thus fortified she emerges to con-
front, outside this chamber, more of the
terrible warders of the gates or cells.
There are two of them, those of the second
and third sebkhets or cells of the House of
Osiris, each holding two knives. The figures
io6 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
are much destroyed, and their names are
lost. But, like the rest, they are overcome
by the queen’s knowing their names, and
she mounts into the Bark of the Sun on
her celestial way. As on the other side
she was supported by two of the children
of Homs, so here the other two, Hapi and
Oebhsennuf, play the same part, and she
adores them, holding up the emblems of
South and North before them ere she
enters the innermost chamber, where her
complete union and identification with
Osiris, the Lord of all living ones, is
accomplished.
The Sanctuary
The sanctuary, or holy of holies, is
crammed full of mythology and divinities.
The main idea underlying all is, however,
the reunion of the deceased with Osiris. It
is noteworthy that though the name and
titles of the queen appear in many places,
she herself is only seen at the doors on
entering. We have ‘gods many and lords
THE SANCTUARY 107
many.' The funerary deities, Amset, Hapi,
Duamutf, and Qebhsennuf, appear again
twice over, confronting the queen, who is
severally identified with them. Then we
have Seb, Nut, Nefer-toum, Horhekennu
on the one side, with Hu, Sa, Shu, and
Tefnut on the other; while in the centre
scene, on one side, we have Thoth,
Nephthys, and Isis, and on the other,
Serket and Neith, with the great Osiris
in the midst. Beginning at the entrance
on the left, we have the queen, adoring
with uplifted hands ; and she is now de-
clared to be ‘ in all peace, stability, power,’
and to be ‘ worthy before the company of
all the gods of the Duat.’ Four of these
gods occupy the lower register or row of
the left-hand wall, while other four hold the
same position on the opposite side — eight
gods in all ; but a ‘ company of gods ’ is
usually nine. Who is the ninth ? Possibly
the queen herself ; and here she is admitted
as a member of the august company. This
seems probable from the fact that all the
figures of the deities, both above and below,
108 QUEEN TY-TI’S TOMB
on both sides, are kneeling to the queen as
to a divinity like themselves. The top
register shows us once more the four
children of Horus, Amset (white body),
Hapi (red body), Duamutf (white body),
and Qebhsennuf (red) — all as human beings,
— and after each one’s name comes the
name of the queen, as being acknowledged
by each in turn. Before each is a table of
offerings for the divine sustenance of the
queen ; — her Ka is never mentioned, nor
is there a single formula for funeral offer-
ings to be found in the tomb. The first
god of the Duat in the lower row, left-
hand wall, is ‘ Seb or Seba, hereditary
prince’ [of the gods] who kneels before
the queen. Her name comes after his, as
being united with him in the company of
the gods; next we have the goddess Nut,
who is called the ‘ great Mother of the
gods,’ and she likewise is joined with the
queen ; next comes Nefer-toum, and behind
him is Hor-hekennu ( i.e . Horus the Praiser),
both, like the rest, identified with the queen’s
name.
THE SANCTUARY 109
Then, on the opposite wall, beginning at
the door, we have the counterpart and com-
pletion of the preceding scene. The queen
advances into the chamber, adoring as on
the other side, and the four children of
Horus, coloured as before, receive her,
seated, with tables of offerings and jars
before them, while the four gods below
kneel, like the other members of the ‘ com-
pany of the gods,’ on the other side. The
queen says she comes as an 4 Osiris before
all those that are Maat in the Ament,’ and
that ‘ behind her there is protection like Ra
for evermore.’ The first of the kneeling
gods is Hu, and he grants her ‘ peace every
day/ The next is Sa, or Sau, a god of
knowledge, and he grants the queen ‘ cooling
water that comes from On.’ Hu and Sa
are often associated in the Judgment scene,
as assessors of Maat or Truth ; and Hu is
also a kind of celestial food. Shu, the god,
comes next, ‘ Son of Ra, who grants the
queen wine and milk ’ ; and last of all is the
goddess Tefnut, who ‘grants incense, cakes,
beer to the Osiris, lady of the Two Lands,
IIO QUEEN TY-7TS TOMB
Ty-ti, triumphant.’ Shu and Tefnut were
children of Ra, born together ; Shu it was,
as a cosmic deity, who separated Nut, the
sky, and uplifted her from Seb, the earth.
The ennead or company of the Nine (?) as
here given, is not easily understood, as it is
different from any with which we are ac-
quainted.
The final scene occupies the rear wall.
The action is from right to left, and consists
in the presentation of the queen by the
goddesses Neith and Serket to the great
god Osiris, who nowhere else appears in the
tomb. The queen is not present in person
but in name, which stands between the two
who conduct the perfected and triumphant
one to the Lord of all living creatures.
Neith, wearing the crown of the North, is
simply called the ‘ Great Divine Mother,’
and Serket, with a scorpion on her head, is
‘ Mistress of Serpents, Keeper of the house
of the Writings.’ Osiris is enthroned, and
bears the symbols of sovereignty, as ‘ Ruler
of the Two Lands . . .’ Isis, 'the Great
Divine Mother/ and Nephthys, stand closely
FINAL GLORY m
together and support Osiris; while Thoth,
ibis-headed, stands behind all, as the Divine
Scribe and Master of the Word, with a
scroll in his left hand, and holding up his
right towards Osiris, as conveying some
potent influence of life. He is called ‘ Thoth,
lord of divine [words] great god, dwelling
in Hesert, he who maketh powers of pro-
tections (magical charms) for Father Osiris,
Lord of Ament/ and presents the Osiris T.
And now, partaking of the celestial food
here provided, not by mortals, but by the
gods themselves, and protected by their
secret powers, the deified and immortal
queen, though unknown to men, abides in
fellowship with Father Osiris for ever and
ever.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press
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